Charcoal House

The charcoal shed on a snowy day.

NPS

Charcoal provided the heat to smelt the iron ore. Charcoal was shoveled into the furnace at a rate of 15 bushels per hour. The charcoal house could hold as much as 30,000 bushel of charcoal, enough to keep the furnace "in blast" even during winter months when charcoal was not produced.

Freshly made charcoal was brought by wagon from the hillsides around Hopewell and deposited under the "cooling shed" portion of this building. There is was allowed to cool to air temperature to protect against accidental fire before being shoveled into the charcoal house for storage until use. The building kept the charcoal dry. This was essential. Wet charcoal would not burn to the temperatures needed for the furnace.

Tags: hopewell furnace national historic site, self-guided tour, historic buildings, furnace complex