Oregon Iron & Steel Company
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Oregon Iron Company Furnace
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Restored remnants of the first Oregon Iron Company furnace
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| Nearest city | Lake Oswego, Oregon |
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| Coordinates | 45°24′39.54″N 122°39′38.52″W / 45.4109833°N 122.6607000°WCoordinates: 45°24′39.54″N 122°39′38.52″W / 45.4109833°N 122.6607000°W |
| Built | 1867 |
| Architect | Richard Martin |
| NRHP reference # | 74001674 |
| Added to NRHP | 1974 |
The Oregon Iron Company was an iron smelting company located in what is now Lake Oswego, Oregon. The company was established in 1865, and in 1867 became the first company west of the Rocky Mountains in the United States to smelt iron. The company failed after a few years, but was reorganized as the Oswego Iron Company in 1878, and again as the Oregon Iron and Steel Company in 1883. With the addition of a larger furnace, the last incarnation of the company prospered, reaching peak production in 1890. By 1894, however, pressure from cheaper imported iron combined with the effects of the Panic of 1893 forced the company to close its smelter. The company continued to operate a pipe foundry until 1928, and until the early 1960s, existed as a land management company, selling its real estate holdings which expanded the city of Lake Oswego.
The discovery of iron ore near the settlement of Oswego in the hills south of Portland is credited to Morton M. McCarver (who had served as speaker of the Provisional Legislature of Oregon) in 1862. McCarver's brown hematite ore was tested and found to be of excellent quality, containing from 56 to 75% metal. In addition, the ore lay near the surface and the Oswego bed was estimated to contain 60,000 short tons (54,000 t) of ore. Since the site also featured vast forests that could be turned into charcoal to feed the smelting furnaces, and ready access to water for power, the potential of a successful mining operation was easily recognized.
In 1865, a group of financiers in Portland, which included former Portland mayors William S. Ladd and Henry Failing, as well as Portland Gas Light Company founders Herman C. Leonard and John Green, incorporated an iron smelting company which they named the Oregon Iron Company. Ladd, who served as President, and the others hoped to make Oswego the "Pittsburgh of the West," believing that having a local source of iron would help their other businesses, which included the Oregon Central Railroad and the Oregon Steam Navigation Company.
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