Oregon Iron & Steel Company Furnace, Lake Oswego, Oregon - Iron Furnace Ruins on Waymarking.com

Roehr Park encompasses 7.5 acres on the Willamette River at 5065 Oswego Pointe Drive. Roehr Park has the remnants of the city's second smelter, including a crucible. The crucible is filled with charcoal, slag and even a small amount of iron bound together, surrounded by bricks. This 60 feet tall smelter, north of the first iron smelter, was built between 1885 and 1888 by Oregon Iron & Steel Company when its first furnace (still standing in George Rogers Park) became outdated. There was a nearby high trestle that served the smelter.

By 1890, the industry had the capacity to produce 50 tons of pig iron daily, and at its peak provided employment to around 300 men. The success of this industry greatly stimulated the development of Oswego, which by this time had four general stores, a bank, two barber shops, two hotels, three churches, nine saloons, a drugstore, and even an opera house.

The Oswego iron was used for pipes carrying water from the Bull Run River to Portland, for building cast-iron fronts in Portland's Old Town, and for train car wheels. Heavy indebtedness and competition from imported pig iron forced the furnace to close in 1894. Oregon Portland Cement Co. bought the second smelter site in 1916. In 1926, the furnace was dismantled.