Falling Creek Ironworks
Encyclopedia
Falling Creek Ironworks was the first iron
production facility in North America. It was established by the Virginia Company of London in Henrico Cittie
(sic) on Falling Creek
near its confluence with the James River
. It was short-lived due to an attack by Native Americans in 1622.
The long-lost site was rediscovered in the early 21st century. It is now located in Chesterfield County
, about 5 miles (8 km) south of the fall line
of the James River at present-day Richmond, Virginia
. Archaeological and related research work at the site was ongoing as of March 2007.
of Virginia's terrain changes from the sandy coastal plain
of the Tidewater Region to the more hilly and rocky Piedmont Region along the north-south fall line
. At Richmond, the generally west to east flowing James River turns almost due south and essentially flows parallel to and just east of the fall line for about 8 miles (12.9 km), before turning east again near Drewry's Bluff. On the west bank of this section, the Piedmont terrain contained the ore
deposits needed to make iron, but was still adjacent to the navigable portion of the James River through the Tidewater Region. A local tributary, Falling Creek
, flowed downhill into the James River, providing the water power needed.
on May 14, 1607. The young colony struggled for years to develop self-sufficiency and successful exports. During the first five years, most of the colonists died from disease, starvation, and attacks by the Native Americans.
After 1612, non-native strains of tobacco
emerged as a cash crop
, and plantation
s and other outposts from Jamestown spread downstream and up the James River toward the head of navigation (fall line) at present-day Richmond
.
with the James River, the colonists identified the site with the combination of ore
deposits, water power, and access to navigable waters for shipping which were needed for their desired iron
production facility. Although the outpost was one of the most remote from Jamestown, beginning in 1619, the Falling Creek Ironworks was established there. It was the first iron production facility in North America
.
Records which have survived indicate that the ironworks was able to produce some quantity of iron. However, from the extant records, it cannot be determined whether the ironworks had begun full production before operations were interrupted by the Indian Massacre of 1622
.
On March 22, 1622, the Powhatan Confederacy of Native Americans tribes under the leadership of Chief Opechancanough conducted a series of coordinated surprise attacks on almost all the English settlements along the James River. Jamestown
was spared only due to a timely warning. The massacre resulted in the death of about a third of the colonists. Two women and three children were among the 27 killed at Falling Creek Ironworks, leaving only two colonists alive, and the facilities were destroyed. Sir Thomas Dale
's progressive development a few miles downstream at Henricus
was also wiped out.
) as well as to pay transportation costs for 2 persons (Jean du Fer and his brother Francois, two surviving children of the 1622 massacre) as well as 750 acres (3 km²) to pay for transportation for 15 persons (mill workers): Philip Bowden (Philip Bourdain), John Nerve (Jean Nervais), Henry Davis, John Bernberry (Jean Banbury/VanBerry), Nicholos Iego (Nicholas Legos), Bassett Sax (Basset d'Sais), Richard Oxon (Richard d'Hausson/Dawson), Thomas Bacock (Thomas Picot), Mary Fitch, John Fleet (Jean van Fleet), and John Mission (Jean Monceaux/Muscheon), Sara Spittlewood, Richard Colins, Thomas Lewis, John Gerford (Gifford) and William Benton, Robert Caldwell.
From 1750 until 1781, Archibald Cary
operated a forge there, until it was destroyed, by Benedict Arnold
, during the American Revolutionary War
. Later attempts to restore the ironworks were unsuccessful, and the exact site itself eventually became lost.
newspaper on January 20, 2007, the heavy rains in the late summer of 2006 apparently eroded the creek bank and uncovered timbers of the furnace which were part of the structure. Early in 2007, a Chesterfield County Department of Utilities employee, who is also an amateur archaeologist, spotted them. According to the article, "The rest of the furnace is believed to be buried in the creek bank."
The location of the ironworks has long been suspected. A number of limited archaeological excavations and surveys were conducted by the Archaeological Society of Virginia, The College of William and Mary
, Browning and Associates, LTD., and others. The location of the blast furnace
was only confirmed in 1999 when Archaeo-Physics, LLC (working with Browning and Associates) did a comprehensive geophysical survey. A large magnetic anomaly consistent with the fired hearth of a blast furnace was located. In addition a number of other features were identified (probably buildings related to either the Falling Creek Ironworks or Archibald Cary
's 1750-81 Forge). http://www.archaeophysics.com/falling/index.html
As of March 2007, the Falling Creek Ironworks Foundation and Chesterfield County (which now owns the site) is in the process of having the timber which was recently exposed in the eroded creek bank dated using a process called dendrochronology
. An excavation is planned for later in 2007 to more fully expose the timbers and possibly the blast furnace itself.
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
production facility in North America. It was established by the Virginia Company of London in Henrico Cittie
Henrico City (Virginia Company)
Henrico City was one of four incorporations established in the Virginia Colony in 1619 North America by the proprietor, the Virginia Company. The plantations and developments were divided into four "incorporations" or "citties", as they were called. These were Charles City, Elizabeth City, Henrico...
(sic) on Falling Creek
Falling Creek
Falling Creek is a tributary of the James River located near Richmond, Virginia. Approximately in length, it varies in width between at its source to several hundred feet in the Falling Creek Reservoir. Falling Creek rises in the Salisbury section of northwestern Chesterfield County and empties...
near its confluence with the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
. It was short-lived due to an attack by Native Americans in 1622.
The long-lost site was rediscovered in the early 21st century. It is now located in Chesterfield County
Chesterfield County, Virginia
Chesterfield County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. In 2010, its population was estimated to be 316,236. Chesterfield County is now the fourth-largest municipality in Virginia . Its county seat is Chesterfield...
, about 5 miles (8 km) south of the fall line
Fall line
A fall line is a geomorphologic unconformity between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
of the James River at present-day Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. Archaeological and related research work at the site was ongoing as of March 2007.
Geography
The geologyGeology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
of Virginia's terrain changes from the sandy coastal plain
Coastal plain
A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features. One of the world's longest coastal plains is located in eastern South America. The southwestern coastal plain of North America is notable for its species diversity...
of the Tidewater Region to the more hilly and rocky Piedmont Region along the north-south fall line
Fall line
A fall line is a geomorphologic unconformity between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
. At Richmond, the generally west to east flowing James River turns almost due south and essentially flows parallel to and just east of the fall line for about 8 miles (12.9 km), before turning east again near Drewry's Bluff. On the west bank of this section, the Piedmont terrain contained the ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
deposits needed to make iron, but was still adjacent to the navigable portion of the James River through the Tidewater Region. A local tributary, Falling Creek
Falling Creek
Falling Creek is a tributary of the James River located near Richmond, Virginia. Approximately in length, it varies in width between at its source to several hundred feet in the Falling Creek Reservoir. Falling Creek rises in the Salisbury section of northwestern Chesterfield County and empties...
, flowed downhill into the James River, providing the water power needed.
Background
The proprietary Virginia Company of London established the first permanent English settlement in the Virginia Colony at JamestownJamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
on May 14, 1607. The young colony struggled for years to develop self-sufficiency and successful exports. During the first five years, most of the colonists died from disease, starvation, and attacks by the Native Americans.
After 1612, non-native strains of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
emerged as a cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
, and plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
s and other outposts from Jamestown spread downstream and up the James River toward the head of navigation (fall line) at present-day Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
.
First ironworks
Near the confluence of Falling CreekFalling Creek
Falling Creek is a tributary of the James River located near Richmond, Virginia. Approximately in length, it varies in width between at its source to several hundred feet in the Falling Creek Reservoir. Falling Creek rises in the Salisbury section of northwestern Chesterfield County and empties...
with the James River, the colonists identified the site with the combination of ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
deposits, water power, and access to navigable waters for shipping which were needed for their desired iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
production facility. Although the outpost was one of the most remote from Jamestown, beginning in 1619, the Falling Creek Ironworks was established there. It was the first iron production facility in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Records which have survived indicate that the ironworks was able to produce some quantity of iron. However, from the extant records, it cannot be determined whether the ironworks had begun full production before operations were interrupted by the Indian Massacre of 1622
Indian massacre of 1622
The Indian Massacre of 1622 occurred in the Colony of Virginia, in what now belongs to the United States of America, on Friday, March 22, 1622...
.
On March 22, 1622, the Powhatan Confederacy of Native Americans tribes under the leadership of Chief Opechancanough conducted a series of coordinated surprise attacks on almost all the English settlements along the James River. Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
was spared only due to a timely warning. The massacre resulted in the death of about a third of the colonists. Two women and three children were among the 27 killed at Falling Creek Ironworks, leaving only two colonists alive, and the facilities were destroyed. Sir Thomas Dale
Thomas Dale
Sir Thomas Dale was an English naval commander and deputy-governor of the Virginia Colony in 1611 and from 1614 to 1616. Governor Dale is best remembered for the energy and the extreme rigour of his administration in Virginia, which established order and in various ways seems to have benefited the...
's progressive development a few miles downstream at Henricus
Henricus
The "Citie of Henricus" — also known as Henricopolis or Henrico Town or Henrico — was a settlement founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1611 as an alternative to the swampy and dangerous area around the original English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia...
was also wiped out.
Subsequent history
On July 21 1646 George Ludlowe Esqr received 1452 acres (5.9 km²) in York Co, that was adjacent to the Falling Creek Mill lands which was in part granted to Martin Baker (Martin Fouquet) as Yorke Plantation by purchase from George Mosso, esquire (esquiem). And which was mortgaged together with an additional 102 acre (0.41277972 km²) by Sir John Harve (John Harvey (Virginia)John Harvey (Virginia)
Sir John Harvey was a Crown Governor of Virginia. He was elected to the position on 26 March 1628. In 1635 he was suspended and impeached by the House of Burgesses , and he returned to England. He was restored to his post by the King in 1636 and returned to Virginia the following year...
) as well as to pay transportation costs for 2 persons (Jean du Fer and his brother Francois, two surviving children of the 1622 massacre) as well as 750 acres (3 km²) to pay for transportation for 15 persons (mill workers): Philip Bowden (Philip Bourdain), John Nerve (Jean Nervais), Henry Davis, John Bernberry (Jean Banbury/VanBerry), Nicholos Iego (Nicholas Legos), Bassett Sax (Basset d'Sais), Richard Oxon (Richard d'Hausson/Dawson), Thomas Bacock (Thomas Picot), Mary Fitch, John Fleet (Jean van Fleet), and John Mission (Jean Monceaux/Muscheon), Sara Spittlewood, Richard Colins, Thomas Lewis, John Gerford (Gifford) and William Benton, Robert Caldwell.
From 1750 until 1781, Archibald Cary
Archibald Cary
Archibald Cary was a public figure from the colony of Virginia.-Life:Cary was a member of the House of Burgesses from 1756 to 1776...
operated a forge there, until it was destroyed, by Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
, during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Later attempts to restore the ironworks were unsuccessful, and the exact site itself eventually became lost.
Rediscovery, ongoing work
The exact site of the Falling Creek Ironworks was unknown until relatively recently. According to an article in the Richmond Times-DispatchRichmond Times-Dispatch
The Richmond Times-Dispatch is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond the capital of Virginia, United States, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state...
newspaper on January 20, 2007, the heavy rains in the late summer of 2006 apparently eroded the creek bank and uncovered timbers of the furnace which were part of the structure. Early in 2007, a Chesterfield County Department of Utilities employee, who is also an amateur archaeologist, spotted them. According to the article, "The rest of the furnace is believed to be buried in the creek bank."
The location of the ironworks has long been suspected. A number of limited archaeological excavations and surveys were conducted by the Archaeological Society of Virginia, The College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
, Browning and Associates, LTD., and others. The location of the blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
was only confirmed in 1999 when Archaeo-Physics, LLC (working with Browning and Associates) did a comprehensive geophysical survey. A large magnetic anomaly consistent with the fired hearth of a blast furnace was located. In addition a number of other features were identified (probably buildings related to either the Falling Creek Ironworks or Archibald Cary
Archibald Cary
Archibald Cary was a public figure from the colony of Virginia.-Life:Cary was a member of the House of Burgesses from 1756 to 1776...
's 1750-81 Forge). http://www.archaeophysics.com/falling/index.html
As of March 2007, the Falling Creek Ironworks Foundation and Chesterfield County (which now owns the site) is in the process of having the timber which was recently exposed in the eroded creek bank dated using a process called dendrochronology
Dendrochronology
Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the scientific method of dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree-rings. Dendrochronology can date the time at which tree rings were formed, in many types of wood, to the exact calendar year...
. An excavation is planned for later in 2007 to more fully expose the timbers and possibly the blast furnace itself.
External links
- Falling Creek Ironworks, Chesterfield County, Virginia
- Village News article: Uncovered:The Falling Creek Ironworks location and age is confirmed after the creek bank is eroded
- Geophysical survey of Falling Creek Ironworks:An Early 17th century industrial site, Chesterfield County, Virginia
- Geophysical survey of Falling Creek Ironworks:An Early 17th century industrial site, Chesterfield County, Virginia, Archaeological Prospection, Volume 8 Issue 4, Pages 247 - 256
- Chesterfield County, The Iron Furnaces of Virginia
- Site of First Iron Foundry in America, HMdb.org
- Charles E. Hatch, Jr., and Thurlow Gates Gregory, "The First American Blast Furnace, 1619–1622," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (July 1962): 259–97.
- Records of the Virginia Company of London.
- John S. Salmon, "Ironworks on the Frontier: Virginia's Iron Industry, 1607–1783," Virginia Cavalcade (Spring 1986): 184–91.
- Cavaliers and Pioneers. Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants,1623-1666, Vol. I"