Connecticut is believed to have been the first of the colonies to make steel. This was in 1728 in Hartford County and undoubtedly by the cementation process.
A bloomary was erected in New York State in 1740 in Columbia County on Auer= Creek, and to this was added in 1750 a blast furnace and a forge. The Sterling Iron Works were built about 1751 in Orange County. They are said to have made the anchors for the United States frigate, Constitution, and also the i first steel produced in the province. A second Sterling furnace was built in 1777, and in 1806, near the same locality, the Southfield furnace which is still standing. Modern furnaces have now replaced the first two.
In the second half of the 18th century addi tional furnaces were built in Orange County, namely the Forest of Dean Furnace, some iron works on the Ramapo, the Queensborough Fur nace and a furnace near Craigsville.
Iron works were in operation at the time of the revolution in Dutchess, Westchester, Rock land and Suffolk counties. In 1800 the Cham plain iron district began to be developed and in 1801 iron works were erected in Essex County for the manufacture of anchors. The iron in dustry of the State became afterward more prosperous.
Iron works are said to have been erected in South Carolina in 1773, while the Era and Etna furnaces in York County were built respectively in 1787 and 17N. Other furnaces were built later, but they have now all been abandoned and the manufacture of iron in that State has ceased.
The making of iron in Tennessee began only in 1790 when a bloomary was built at Embre ville, in Washington County. Other bloomaries were erected soon afterward in Carter, John son, Greene and Jefferson counties. A large furnace and forge was built in Sullivan County and a bloomary about 1795 near the mouth of the Watauga. In 1792 the Cumberland furnace was erected in Dickson County. During the 19th century and since the iron industry in Ten nessee has made great progress.
The Bourbon Furnace, built in 1791 in Bath County, Kentucky, is the only One erected in that State during the 18th century. Other iron
works, however, were erected in the following century.
In Georgia iron works were built probabfy in about 1790, in Elbert and Chatham counties and others in the 19th century.
Ohio, Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Texas made no iron in the 18th century, but some of these States became important producers of iron in the following century.
In the following States the manufacture of iron was not begun until the second half of the 19th century: Minnesota, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, California, Oregon and Washington territory. It is be lieved that no iron has ever been produced in the States and territories not mentioned in this brief sketch.
For a more detailed description of the early iron and steel industry of the United States the reader should consult the excellent history written by James M. Swank from which most of the data needed for this article has been obtained.
The development of the iron and steel indus try in the United States during the 19th cen tury has been marked by many events, some of which will be briefly mentioned.
In 1801 the development of the iron mines from the Champlain district in New York re sulted in the erection in that State of many forges, furnaces and even, later, of rolling mills. As late as 1883 there were 27 forges for the direct reduction of iron ores and the manu facture of blooms; in 1890 only 14 were in operation and in 1900 but a single one was still active. Many forges were also built in New Jersey, nine of which now remain.
In 1811 the first rolling mill was built at Pittsburgh. It was known as the Pittsburgh Rolling Mill.
In 1816 wire fences were manufactured by White and Hazard at their works at the falls of Schuylkill. The same year the first puddling furnace was built by Isaac Messon in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The first boiler plates made in -the States were rolled at the Brandy wine Rolling Mill at Coatesville, Pa., some time previous to 1825.
Bar iron was first made in New England at the Boston Iron Works in 1825.