Revere Copper Company
| Private | |
| Founded | 1801 Canton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Founder | Paul Revere and Joseph Warren Revere |
| Headquarters | Rome, New York, U.S. |
| Website | www |
The Revere Copper Company is a copper rolling mill in the United States. It operated North America's first copper rolling mill. It was started by Paul Revere in 1801 in Canton, Massachusetts and developed a commercially viable process for manufacturing copper sheets.
Copper rolling is the process of converting large blocks of copper into thin sheets by rolling them slowly down to size. These sheets of copper were used in the 18th and 19th centuries mainly to plate the bottoms of ships. This process of plating ship bottoms, referred to as “sheathing” or “coppering”, helped increase the speed and lifespan of ships. Copper, specifically, was desired for this process due to the fact that it reacts with seawater to create an oxide coating that prevents the build-up of barnacles, weeds, and other detritus, in addition to physically stopping worms from burrowing into and degrading the wood. Not only did copper sheathing help ships sail faster by keeping their hulls clean, but it also drastically increased the amount of time a ship could remain in service between overhauls. In fact, “British Navy Comptroller Charles Middleton estimated that copper sheathing might double the number of ships at sea at any time”.
Paul Revere’s interest in copper rolling began when, after the American Revolution, the American navy wanted to begin using this process of copper sheathing the nation’s ships. Benjamin Stoddert, a successful businessman and ardent Federalist, recognized the importance of a powerful Navy in preserving the economic and political independence of the new United States. Stoddert used his position as Secretary of the Navy to fund metalworkers such as Paul Revere in the hopes that American manufacturers might be able to develop copper rolling technology of their own and reduce America’s reliance on Britain for the majority of its copper products, especially for industrial and military needs.
Revere saw the Navy's desire for copper sheathing as an opportunity to increase both his income and social standing, so he rose to the challenge presented by Stoddert. Revere began rolling copper using his established knowledge of metallurgy gained from his experience as a silversmith and in other endeavors such as bell casting, cannon casting, and the forging of copper bolts and spikes. He had already been rolling silver sheets since 1785, which had taught him the fundamental principles of rolling. However, copper rolling is a much more complex process and, as a beginner in this field, Revere's first copper sheets were not of the same quality as those of the British. Revere had several questions about the superior British process, but the British closely guarded their methods. Whilst Revere had a rough idea of how to roll copper, he sent his son, Joseph Warren Revere, to Britain in 1804 to try to learn more about the details of the British process.
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