Hereford Furnace
Hereford Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Established by Thomas Maybury in 1745 on the west bank of the Perkiomen Creek for the purpose of manufacturing iron. Maybury is credited with producing here in 1767 the first cast-iron cooking-stove in North America.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Thomas Maybury established this furnace on the Perkiomen Creek in 1745 to smelt the iron that colonial Pennsylvania increasingly demanded. Tradition credits the works with producing, in 1767, the first cast-iron cooking stove made in North America—an everyday innovation that would warm and feed countless homes. The site reflects the ingenuity of the colony's early ironmasters.
Why it matters
It links Pennsylvania's colonial iron trade to a homegrown invention, showing how frontier industry could seed practical American innovation.
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Related people
- · Thomas Maybury
Themes & tags
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