Lackawanna Iron
Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Iron was forged in Slocum Hollow by 1797. Nearby are remains of Lackawanna Iron Co. works begun 1840 by Scranton and associates. Iron rails for the Erie R.R. were made here, 1847. Steelmaking begun in 1875. Closed in 1902.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Long before Scranton was a city, iron was already being forged in the woods of Slocum Hollow as early as 1797. In 1840 the Scranton family and their partners launched the works that became the Lackawanna Iron Company, and in 1847 the furnaces here rolled iron rails for the Erie Railroad — helping tie together the nation's booming rail network. The company added steelmaking in 1875, riding the Gilded Age industrial surge, before the operation finally closed in 1902.
Why it matters
This furnace helped give birth to a city — Scranton grew up around it — and its rails literally carried American expansion westward, making it a landmark of the iron-and-steel age that powered the nation's rise as an industrial power.
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Related people
- · George W. Scranton
- · Selden T. Scranton
Related events
- · Founding of the Lackawanna Iron Company
- · Manufacture of iron rails for the Erie Railroad
Themes & tags
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