Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, located in the Schuylkill River Valley watershed in Chester and Berks Counties, Pennsylvania, preserves and interprets one of the finest examples of an early American iron plantation. In 1938, the property was designated as Hopewell Village National Historic Site under the authority of the Historic Sites Act, thereby becoming one of the earliest cultural units of the National Park System. Although the park and state-owned land still retain their rural character today, rapidly encroaching residential development has greatly altered the character of the surrounding countryside.
It is an important case study of the Park Service's efforts to recreate and accurately depict iron production and life in an ironmaking community within the context of historic preservation development policies. We would like to thank Susan Ferentinos, Manager of Public History for OAH, who managed the project on behalf of the organization; and we would like to thank Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site Superintendent Bill Sanders and his staff for their assistance.
Introduction
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, located approximately five miles south of the small town of Birdsboro, currently lies within the largest contiguous forest in southeastern Pennsylvania. Hopewell Furnace: A Guide). feeding liquid iron into grooves carved into the foundry's sandy floor). Clemens, September W file, Central Files, Office of the Cultural Resource Manager, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.
Buckley, and Clement Brooke's daughter, Maria Clingan, oversaw the last blast of the furnace in 1883. The history of the Hopewell Furnace ends here, and the history of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site begins.
Conservation and Preservation
Jones, "Restoration of the Furnace Group at Hopewell Village National Historic Site," (Honors Thesis, Princeton University, April 15, 1981). Regarding recreational demonstration projects from the Resettlement Administration to the Secretary of the Interior, no. Like the RDA program, several different government departments participated in the operation of the CCC.
Those working on the dam site shifted their activity to the construction of the family campsite. Frank Willis, Administrative History: Expansion of the National Park Service in the 1930s (Washington, DC: Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1983).
The Development and Establishment of a National Historic Site, 1936-1941
The goals of the historical park increasingly distanced themselves from those of the recreational area. Moreover, many of the site's remaining structures, or what remained of them, were post-revolutionary. The old barn proved to be one of the most controversial items in the restoration plans.
He based the plans on the parts of the oven that the Franklin Institute dismantled in the 1930s.109. He wrote a letter to the director of the Franklin Institute to discuss the matter, but the...
The success of group camps and Navy rest areas exacerbated the development problems of historic Hopewell Village. The loss of the WPA and CCC robbed the park of valuable manpower and funds for construction projects. Changes in the village since the colonial period would reflect the slow development of the iron industry.
65 Heinrich to Regional Director, October Comments on Hopewell Village NHS by Commanding Officers of the US Navy Rest Area, 1944, Historic Central Files, Box 3, Bally Building, HOFU. Unfortunately, the local residents' support for the Allied sailors and the peaceful goodwill of the holiday camp did not extend to the park itself. By the end of the war, Heinrich and other NPS officials were still complaining about access to the park.
Matheson, 27 September 1944, Comments on Hopewell Village NHS by Commanders of the US Navy's Rest Camp 1944, Historic Central Files, Box 3, Bally Building, HOFU. During the last year of the war, the issue of hunting could easily have become the park's worst PR nightmare. Despite its historic site status, even the NPS considered Hopewell Village National Historic Site to be “one of the outstanding wildlife areas of the national park.
These people would be denied recreation because of the wishes of a few hunters (whom he estimated would number only about 180). While deer contributed to the recreational value of the park, Hopewell's main purpose was still historic preservation.103. First, they claimed that opening a portion of the 6,000-acre park was in line with the NPS mission.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania allowed deer hunting in the southeastern part of the state for fifteen days. Heinrich's last major project before turning over the French Creek area to the state involved the liquidation of the CCC camp.
The Golden Age:”
These problems relate to finding a delicate balance between protection and use of the park areas. 6. All the while, Hopewell's local and regional staff continued slowly but steadily with the village's historic work. The deplorable physical condition of the site after the war even prompted an article in the New York Sun to label the park as.
Historian Kurjack was able to use local public funding to benefit the park. Documents from the time show that "those in charge" often authorized funding and research. Conferences in the late 1940s continued discussions on how to bring "life" back to the furnace and the village and prompted the reconstruction of the water wheel, Hopewell's Long.
By the end of the month, Superintendent Cass had given a demonstration of a water wheel that impressed even the engineers. At the same time, Hudson encouraged the restoration of the Bake Ovens, possibly with ENPMA funding. Unfortunately, Hopewell's permanent staff remained too small for the park's needs until the mid-1950s.
He further suggested that the Chief Inspector move his office to the second floor of the Ironmaster's House. On June 28, 1959, Associate Director Scoyen gave a report on “the park story” at the dedication of the visitors center. Two of the tenant houses would be used as exhibitions and a third as staff quarters.
While most of the carriage collection housed in the barn would be removed as they dated well after the 'Golden Age'. Like his predecessors, he focused mainly on the physical development of the village, which reflected the period 1820-1840.
What Now? Preservation and Celebration in the Post-Restoration Period, 1966-1988
The year 1966 marked not only the 50th anniversary of the National Park Service, but the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Utley Recalls the Beginnings of the National Historic Preservation Program,” The Public Historian 24, No. 3 (Spring 2002), 74. A decade after the passage of the NHPA, the park would prepare for the nation's bicentennial as one of two and thieves.
Mattes, Landmarks of Liberty: A Report on the American Revolution Bicentennial Development Program of the National Park Service, (Washington, DC: History Division, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, 1989), 74. “It is hoped that the park may assume a relatively completed state by the opening of the Bicentennial period in 1975,”. Nan Rickey of the NPS's Denver Service Center (DSC) helped Superintendent Riddle draft a new Master Plan and.
The documents claim that the park's focus has strayed too far from its industrial significance, concentrating instead on "village" or community issues. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Hopewell's superintendent appointments tended to target people who could highlight a new aspect of the park's history and expand its visitor base. Housing developments, shopping centers and sanitary facilities have threatened precious resources such as water supplies and the atmosphere of the park.
In 1998, Fernandez left Hopewell just before the park's sixtieth anniversary celebration to adopt the. However, the interpretation of the park for a time resembled Roy Appleman's dream of a "revived village" (See Chapter 10), although this was by no means realized. The Bicentennial added to Hopewell's interpretive programming, but the park staff still hoped to fulfill the vision of the early planners.
Restoration, Religion, Recreation, and Roads: Conflicts in Resource Use
The NPS issues special use permits to members of the public to allow them to use park resources or land for purposes compatible with the park's historic significance and purpose for establishment. Situated on parkland but out of sight of the town centre, Bethesda Church and Cemetery played an integral role in the Hopewell iron community by serving its diverse. While the Hopewell Furnace ironmasters were primarily Episcopalians, many of the workers tended to worship as Baptists or Lutherans.
In 1827 or 1828 the thirty-one remaining members of the congregation joined the Philadelphia Baptist Association and soon changed its name to Bethesda Baptist. When the government declared the Brooke land ..condemnation to establish the French Creek Recreational Demonstration Area, none of the church trustees filed a claim for the church and cemetery land. Bethesda Church remained under the jurisdiction of the RDA, not the NPS, after the Secretary of the Interior established the original Hopewell Village National Historic Site in 1938.
As a show of good faith, he sent over three dollars to help the congregation with a new paint job and assured Lloyd of the NPS's commitment to Bethesda Church and the congregation's .. continued and free use of the building for worship” as long as they needed it. When Ralston Lattimore arrived, Coordinating Superintendent Francis Ronalds advised him to either stop pursuing the special use permit issue or make the arrangement temporary. After French Creek RDA effectively became part of the Hopewell Village National Historic Site, Coordinating Superintendent Ronalds again raised the issue of creating a.
There is no record of protest following the country's inclusion in the new, expanded 1947 border of the historic site. The following year, the NPS removed five trees from the front of the church to more closely mimic the historic appearance, as well as to prevent roots from damaging the wall. However, the loss of greenery worried Sandiford and the congregation who called for the government to replace the trees with shrubs.
