Oxford Furnace, New Jersey


Oxford Furnace is a historic blast furnace on Washington Avenue, near the intersection with Belvidere Avenue, in Oxford, Oxford Township, Warren County, New Jersey. The furnace was built starting in 1741 and produced its first pig iron in 1743. The first practical use in the United States of hot blast furnace technology took place here in 1834. The furnace was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 6, 1977 for its significance in industry during the 19th century. It was later added as a contributing property to the Oxford Industrial Historic District on August 27, 1992.

History

Oxford Furnace was the third charcoal furnace in colonial New Jersey and the first constructed at a site where iron ore was mined. The first two furnaces extracted ore from bogs in South Jersey, impure deposits called bog iron.
The furnace was built starting in 1741 by Jonathan Robeson and Joseph Shippen, Jr., both of Philadelphia, and owned by the Shippen family who lived nearby in Shippen Manor. It produced its first pig iron on March 9, 1743. Early products included fireplace firebacks embossed with the royal coat-of-arms of Great Britain during the reign of King George II.
A grist mill was built adjacent to the furnace in 1813. Later, –1915, it was converted into the Oxford Methodist Church.
In 1834, William Henry, manager of the furnace, achieved the first practical use in the United States of hot blast furnace technology, which increased production nearly 10%. This technology blew preheated air into the furnace, cutting production time. The next year, 1835, he introduced a hot blast oven placed on top of the stack, which further increased the temperature of the blast and increased production nearly 40%.
Oxford Furnace operated the longest of any of the colonial furnaces, not being "blown out" until 1884.
A restoration of the furnace occurred between 1997 and 2001.

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Notable People