Old Forge
Old Forge, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
On the south bank of the Lackawanna River opposite this spot was located the iron forge built 1789 by Dr. William Smith and James Sutton. This was the region's oldest forge, after which the town was named.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1789, in the years just after the Revolution when the new republic was pushing industry into its river valleys, Dr. William Smith and James Sutton built an iron forge on the south bank of the Lackawanna River. It was the earliest forge in this corner of northeastern Pennsylvania, tapping the region's water power and abundant ore long before anthracite coal made the Lackawanna Valley a national industrial powerhouse. The little settlement that grew up around the works took its name from the forge itself, and the name Old Forge stuck long after the hammer fell silent.
Why it matters
It marks the industrial seed of the Lackawanna Valley, a reminder that America's early republic grew not only through farms and towns but through the small iron forges that turned local ore and water into the tools of a young nation.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In 1789, the United States was brand new — the Constitution had only just taken effect, and the young republic was finding its feet. Away from the seaports and capitals, that new national confidence expressed itself in a quieter way: settlers pushing industry into the river valleys, harnessing water power and local ore to make the iron a growing country needed.
The Lackawanna Valley of northeastern Pennsylvania was still early, undeveloped country then. What it offered was exactly what an ironworker needed — moving water to drive machinery, and ore to work. Long before anthracite coal would transform this region into a national industrial powerhouse, its earliest industry ran on these humble, local ingredients.
Into that setting came the region's very first forge, planted on the bank of the Lackawanna River in the first years of the new nation. It was a small beginning, but a genuine one.
People & events
On the south bank of the Lackawanna River, opposite this spot, Dr. William Smith and James Sutton built an iron forge in 1789. It was the oldest forge in this corner of northeastern Pennsylvania — the first of its kind in a valley that would one day be famous for iron and coal.
The partnership itself is a small window into early American enterprise. A forge in 1789 was a modest, labor-intensive affair, worked by hand and driven by the river, turning ore into the iron that a frontier community depended on for tools and hardware. Building one on the edge of settlement took ambition and considerable effort.
The forge left something more lasting than iron: a name. The little settlement that grew up around the works took its name from the forge itself, and the name Old Forge endured long after the hammer fell silent. The place still carries the memory of that first industry in its very name.
Its place in the American story
This site marks the industrial seed of the Lackawanna Valley. It is a reminder that America's Early Republic grew not only through farms and towns but through small iron forges that turned local ore and water into the tools of a young nation.
The broader story matters here. In the decades after this forge was built, the Lackawanna region would become a national center of heavy industry. But before the great furnaces and mines, there had to be a first — a place where someone proved that iron could be worked in this valley at all. Old Forge is that first.
Across the young United States, countless communities began exactly this way, with a single mill or forge that gave a settlement its reason to exist and, often, its name. This spot connects the enormous later industry of the region back to its earliest, smallest roots.
If you visit
Stand near the marker and look across to the south bank of the Lackawanna River, where the forge once stood. There is no thundering machinery to see now, but the river is still here — the same water power that first drew iron-makers to this exact place.
Let the name do some of the work. You are in a town called Old Forge because of what happened here in 1789, and simply knowing that turns an ordinary river bank into the birthplace of a valley's industry.
This is a fine first stop on any tour of the Lackawanna Valley's industrial history. Begin here, at the modest 1789 forge, and then follow the story forward through the much larger ironworks and coal country that grew from these small beginnings. It puts everything that came later into perspective.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Dr. William Smith
- · James Sutton
Themes & tags
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