Cornwall Furnace
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Cornwall Iron Furnace
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Main building at Cornwall Iron Furnace
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| Location | Rexmont Rd. and Boyd St., Cornwall, Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates | 40°16′14″N 76°24′22″W / 40.27056°N 76.40611°WCoordinates: 40°16′14″N 76°24′22″W / 40.27056°N 76.40611°W |
| Area | 175 acres (71 ha) |
| Built | 1742 |
| Architect | Peter Grubb |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000671 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 13, 1966 |
| Designated NHLD | November 3, 1966 |
| Designated PHMC | August 1, 1948 and June 1, 2005 |
Cornwall Iron Furnace is a designated National Historic Landmark that is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Cornwall, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The furnace was a leading Pennsylvania iron producer from 1742 until it was shut down in 1883. The furnaces, support buildings and surrounding community have been preserved as a historical site and museum, providing a glimpse into Lebanon County's industrial past. The site is the only intact charcoal-burning iron blast furnace in its original plantation in the western hemisphere. Established by Peter Grubb in 1742, Cornwall Furnace was operated during the Revolution by his sons Curtis and Peter Jr. who were major arms providers to George Washington. Robert Coleman acquired Cornwall Furnace after the Revolution and became Pennsylvania's first millionaire. Ownership of the furnace and its surroundings was transferred to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1932.
Cornwall Iron Furnace was one of many ironworks that were built in Pennsylvania over a sixty-year period, from 1716-1776. There were at least 21 blast furnaces, 45 forges, four bloomeries, six steel furnaces, three slitting mills, two plate mills, and one wire mill in operation in Colonial Pennsylvania.
The furnaces at Cornwall Furnace went through two stages of technology. Peter Grubb was born in Delaware about 1702 and settled in what is now Lebanon County in 1734. He bought about 300 acres (1.2 km2) of magnetite rich land. Grubb also noticed that his land had the other natural resources needed to produce iron. Namely, vast stands of timber for the production of charcoal, running water to operate the bellows, and an ample supply of limestone needed to add flux to the smelting furnaces. Grubb's plans were further helped by the fact that the magnetite at Cornwall was either very close to or on the surface of his land. He was ready to venture into the iron business and set about the task of building an iron "plantation". These centers of iron production were usually located well away from the heavily cleared farmlands and were nestled in the Ridge and Valley section of Pennsylvania. Grubb constructed his furnaces, first a bloomery and later the more modern charcoal-fired blast furnace and the support buildings and mill village that was needed to house his workers. He named his operation Cornwall because his father, John Grubb had come from Cornwall, UK in 1677. Cornwall Iron Furnace was an excellent fit for the agricultural based economy of the Thirteen Colonies. Iron was needed to make into tools, nails and weapons. The official policy of Great Britain frowned on manufacturing in the colonies, but England was no longer able to produce the needed iron for its needs let alone the needs of the colonists. In fact England had become dependent on importing iron from Sweden.
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