Barn - Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site - Elverson, PA
Posted by: 
Janila
N 40° 12.350 W 075° 46.431
18T E 434142 N 4450890
Today, sheep and horses mill around this historic site, mostly for the pleasure of the visitors, but during the iron making days, the barn was used to house the livestock vital to the business's operations.
Waymark Code: WMZC5N
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 10/17/2018
Views: 3
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site illustrates the adaptability of founder Mark Bird as he initially rebelled against the colonial government by refining cast iron into wrought iron, a process formerly completed by sending the cast iron to England for the refining. As the Revolutionary War began, Bird moved from making refined stove plates to cannons and shot. After the war, Bird was not able to recover financially from the role he played in promoting independence and he was forced to sell the plantation to the Brooke family. By 1816, a clever plantation manager by the name of Clement Brooke, succeeded in making iron products that became very popular along the East Coast until 1837. Again, the business began to flounder but picked up when the Civil War created a demand for pig iron, the product from which cast iron is made. With the end of the war and the development of the Bessemer steel production process, came the demise of the iron forge business. Hopewell remained a summer residence for descendants of the second owners, the Brookes, until 1935 when it was sold to the US government.
In 1779, Mark Bird reported that there were 16 horses, 21 cows and 46 sheep. These types of animals were taxed which is why there are records of them. By 1832, it was reported that there were 86 horses and by 1850, there were 50 oxen, horses and mules. These animals needed a place to live and the stone barn provided a home for some of them. Others were housed at neighboring farms. The Hopewell Village barn had 6 sets of stalls which could hold 6 horses each. The top level of the barn contained three haymows which could hold enough hay for the 36 horses for a year. Today, there is still livestock including horses and sheep housed in the lower level of the barn and the top level contains examples of farm equipment.
The Barn is contributing building #24 of the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. It is described in the nominating papers as "Fieldstone Bank-barn with overhang. Built upon a bank with access to upper level for equipment and hay storage from front, and access to lower level animal stalls from rear. Served as shelter for animals, and to store feed and equipment. Currently used for same purpose. Built late 18th century. Substantially altered 1928. Restored 1961."
The nomination form for the Hopewell Village National Historic Site has not yet been scanned and uploaded to the NRHP website. It you wish to view it, I have uploaded it to my blog at (
visit link) .