Kutztown Furnace
by William A. Yurvati
The last issue of the society’s quarterly “Along the Saucony (Vol 28, No 3, Sept 2005) included an interesting article by Bill Yurvati, a frequent contributor and staunch supporter of the Kutztown Area Historical Society.
Iron, one of earth's basic elements, is commonly found chemically bonded with oxygen and rock. This combination is called ore. To produce iron, ore is heated to separate the metal from other minerals. Removing the oxygen from the ore is known as reduction. Smelting is the term used to describe the process of inducing reduction. In ancient times, smelting was accomplished by simply heating ore in a fire pit. Airflow from a crude bellows increased the heat of the fire. This basic process yielded a very soft and malleable iron, easily hammered into weapons and tools.
In Pennsylvania, iron making evolved in the 18th century after the discovery of iron ore deposits of varying purity throughout the southeast portion of the commonwealth. In Berks County, several large deposits of ore were found in various locations including the townships east of the borough of Kutztown and extending into neighboring Lehigh County.
With the presence of ore and an abundance of limestone, a necessary ingredient for smelting, an iron industry developed and flourished in Berks County well into the late 19th century. For a time, iron manufacturing in Pennsylvania was a major economic activity Ore mine pits dotted the landscape, remnants of which are still visible. Several local furnaces were constructed to smelt ore and produce iron bars or ingots, notably Sally Ann Furnace southeast of Lyons.
Initially, local iron furnaces utilized the "cold blast" technique for smelting. The restored Hopewell Furnace (a National Historic Site) is an excellent example of a typical furnace, which consisted of a four-sided structure enclosed in a tapered conical tower. Openings in the furnace wall allowed compressed air (the blast), supplied by a large bellows, to fan the fire. Charcoal was the common fuel to generate the required heat.
As local mining and smelting operations expanded, small foundries were built within close proximity to furnaces to shape or cast the iron into useful products. In 1851, the Kutztown Iron Foundry was established in the borough, specializing in iron castings. The foundry expanded in 1869 to the eastern side of town at the terminus of the newly constructed Philadelphia & Reading Railroad line from Topton. Those works would be the predecessor to the Kutztown Foundry and Machine Corporation, currently the Kutztown Plant of McConway & Torley Corporation.
Kutztown Furnace
Kutztown would also take a role in iron smelting. In 1875, a furnace was constructed adjacent to the railroad just south of the then borough limits. Initially operated by Charles H. Nimson & Company, the furnace was purchased by the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company, which in turn leased the property to other operators.
Unlike earlier "cold blast" furnaces, the Kutztown Furnace was built as a "hot blast" furnace. This type utilized heated compressed air and hot combustion gases to raise the furnace temperature. Anthracite coal was utilized rather than charcoal because it burned slowly and at a higher temperature. The "hot blast" furnace was more efficient and iron production subsequently increased. At the height of its operation, annual production capacity of the Kutztown furnace exceeded 7,000 tons of iron.
Hot Blast Furnace
To operate a "hot blast" furnace, a small fire was lit at the base of the furnace to remove any moisture. Next, the raw materials of iron ore and limestone were carefully weighed since different mixtures could affect the quality of the resulting iron. Limestone helped separate the impurities in the ore as it melted. Anthracite coal was added as the combustible fuel. During the process of loading, known as "charging the furnace," the raw materials were loaded into the top of the furnace in layers.
A large boiler in an adjacent building produced steam to drive an engine which pumped hot air mixed with hot gasses captured from within the furnace tower into the furnace hearth. The molten iron separated from the rock and seeped to the bottom of the hearth while the impurities would bind to the limestone. This material, called slag, was less dense than the iron and was suspended above the molten mixture.
A charge usually required about twelve hours to become fully melted. The workers would then draw off the liquefied slag through a small plug on the outside of the hearth. Then a larger plug would be removed by striking it with an iron bar until the plug shattered. This was known as "tapping the furnace."
The molten iron would then flow into grooves in the sand lined floor of the casting house. The cooled "pigs" were separated from the channels with sledgehammers. The origin of the terms "pigs" and "pig iron" may have been coined from the appearance of the configuration to piglets nursing at a sow.
The remaining slag was left to cool and then broken into pieces to be dumped nearby as waste. While laborers loaded the iron onto carts or railcars for shipment to foundries, other workers recharged the furnace to repeat the smelting process. Although "hot blast" furnaces operated more efficiently than their "cold blast" predecessors, the process was fraught with danger. Work at an iron furnace typically involved a twelve hour shift of difficult labor. Smelting produced toxic fumes. Bodily contact with even the smallest amount of molten iron caused severe injury. Workers were constantly exposed to intense heat from the hearth and the adjacent boilers. The steam boilers themselves, if not properly operated and maintained, were prone to explosions. The inherent danger of large industrial boilers would eventually spell doom for the Kutztown Furnace.
Fatal Explosion
All was normal at the furnace just past midnight in the early morning hours of July 21, 1883. Preparations had been completed in the casting house for the "tapping" of the hearth. Nearly all the employees had retreated to the cool night air, resting under shedding nearby for a brief respite from the sweltering workshop.
At about 4 a.m. a terrific noise reverberated through the tranquil morning, heralding a boiler explosion at the furnace. Citizens of the borough, most sleeping peacefully at that early hour, were jolted awake by the thunderous noise and the shaking of houses and buildings. The force of the explosion hurled large pieces of the boiler and scalding water as well as bricks and timber in all directions. The 55 foot high boiler house smokestack, loosened from its supporting foundation, collapsed. The massive avalanche of chimney rubble fell directly on the roof of the casting house, demolishing all but one wall of the building.
As fate would have it, the majority of the furnace workers, who moments before had been resting outside the plant, survived the explosion, sustaining only minor injuries. Temporarily stunned by the great noise, survivors immediately undertook the task of rescuing whomever they could from the wreckage. Several injured workers were pulled to safety, but 21 year old Frank Waltman from Topton, who had been tending the boilers, was buried in the debris. Not initially killed by the blast, he could be heard screaming for help. Frank's father, Solomon Waltman, himself slightly injured in his legs, frantically joined in the rescue attempt. But the young man's lifeless body was recovered after thirty minutes of frenzied digging. Henry Waltman, another relative of Frank, and Morris Good, the night watchman, were critically injured, both severely scalded after being doused with hot water and debris. John Marstellar, who had been supervising the boiler house operations, was thrown some distance by the force of the blast. A newspaper account of the tragic event reported that he was not expected to survive his injuries.
The fatal boiler explosion permanently halted iron production in Kutztown. The industry in the region was in decline and the development of the steel industry's huge iron and steel complexes made it difficult for small furnaces to compete. In addition, the discovery of more pure ore deposits in Minnesota hastened the demise of local iron production.
For many years after the deadly explosion, the furnace site lay in ruins. No attempt was ever made to rebuild the enterprise. Successive owners reclaimed some portions of the ruins but remnants remained untouched. Longtime Kutztown residents recall exploring the remains of the furnace as youngsters. In 1963, Berks Products purchased the property and the subsequent construction of the ready mix concrete plant on the site erased the last traces of the Kutztown Furnace. Due to its relatively brief operation, only a few items exist that recorded the furnace's activity. Anyone possessing additional documentation, articles, accounts, or photographs related to the Kutztown Furnace is asked to contact the Kutztown Area Historical Society.
