Howell Works
Encyclopedia
Howell Works was a bog iron
-based production facility for pig iron
which was established in New Jersey
in the early 19th century by American
engineer
and philanthropist
James P. Allaire. It is notable as one of the earliest American examples of a company town
.
Allaire purchased the Howell Works property to provide pig iron for his Allaire Iron Works
in New York
, which was at the time a leading manufacturer of marine steam engine
s. The Howell Works also manufactured its own lines of cast iron
products. Allaire eventually transformed the Howell Works into an almost completely self-sufficient community, with its own housing and food supply for the workforce, its own post office, church, school and company store, even its own currency.
After bog iron was made redundant by the increasing availability of iron ore, Allaire closed the Howell Works and eventually retired there with his family. The property remained in private hands until being bequeathed to the state in 1941. Today, the Howell Works is a registered historic site known as Allaire Village
.
foundry
, at 462 Cherry Street, New York, in 1804. In 1807, Allaire received an order from steamboat
pioneer Robert Fulton
for brass fittings for the North River Steamboat
, the world's first commercially successful steam-powered vessel. Allaire subsequently became interested in marine steam engine
technology, and in 1815 he established a plant in New York for the production of such engines, the Allaire Iron Works.
Allaire soon ran into supply problems with his new ironworks. With little demand in the United States for the high quality pig iron necessary for building marine steam engines, the local pig iron industry was in its infancy and unable to supply him with either the quantity or quality he required. The best quality pig iron was imported from the United Kingdom
, but high tariffs made it too expensive to purchase.
Allaire's solution was to become a manufacturer of pig iron. In 1821, a friend and business associate of Allaire's, Benjamin B. Howell, began leasing a bog-iron furnace in Monmouth County, New Jersey
, which was known as Monmouth Furnace. After Howell informed Allaire of the property, Allaire decided to raise the capital to purchase it. On 27 April 1822, he purchased the furnace along with 5000 acres (20.2 km²) of the surrounding land from its owner William Newbold for the sum of $19,000.
Allaire's initial capital raising fell through and Newbold promptly sued for the balance, but Allaire was able to refinance. He took full possession of the property in 1823. He renamed the property Howell Works, in honor of Benjamin Howell.
land — from which the renewable resource
of bog iron was harvested — along with forests to process for charcoal
to fuel the bog iron conversion. Allaire eventually purchased an additional 3000 acres (12.1 km²) of woodland to increase the supply for charcoal making.
Because of the area's isolation, Allaire realized he had to provide virtually all the facilities of a small town to satisfy the daily needs of his employees. Consequently, he hired additional artisans: a blacksmith, carpenters, brickmakers to supply bricks for new buildings on the grounds, farmers to grow food and raise cattle, millers, bakers, butchers and so on. In effect, Allaire built an almost entirely self-contained community.
passed an act prohibiting the use of "tickets" - in effect, banning the use of currencies other than the state's official currency. Allaire had been planning to issue his own scrip prior to passage of the act. In 1832, he initiated a test case.
The courts found that the Allaire scrip did not violate the Act because they were "due bills" (IOU's). Allaire began issuing his workers the scrip, which was redeemable at the company store on the grounds, as well as accepted as payment by businesses in the local area. The scrip was issued in a variety of denominations, from tokens worth a few pennies to notes with a value of between $1 and $10.
further north. To transport the pig iron from Red Bank to New York, Allaire purchased Cornelius Vanderbilt
's steamer
Bellona and established the first regular steam packet service between the two localities. Other steamboats used by Allaire to transport goods and supplies to and from the Howell Works included the Frank, David Brown, Osiris
, Iolas and Orus
.
, and an early example of a soda fountain
. Customers came from miles around to shop there. At this time, the Store may have been the largest in the entire state of New Jersey.
in keeping with Allaire's personal faith; however, he was tolerant of other faiths and did not require his employees to attend services.
A strong believer in education, Allaire did require the children of his employees to attend school, which he provided free of charge. Lessons were held three days a week, from dawn to dusk, for children of both sexes between the ages of about five or six to eleven or twelve. Children old enough to train as apprentices could continue their schooling on a part-time basis if they so desired. Lessons were held inside the chapel and provided by the resident minister—retained by Allaire at a salary of $500 per year—and an assistant.
The blast furnace now included two smaller furnaces or cupolas in addition to the main furnace, all of which were housed in a large casting shed and adjoined by an office, bridgehouse and wheelhouse (the latter containing a large waterwheel to pump air into the furnace). The cupolas were added for the production of cast-iron products, which Allaire was able to manufacture as a result of the surplus pig iron from the Works. His company manufactured items including pots, pans, skillets, kettles and other holloware
; along with andirons, pipes, tools and machine castings. Some of these items were sold at the company store, but most were shipped north for sale in New York. Allaire established file and screw factories, the latter of which manufactured the first screws made on mechanical lathes.
began, triggering a prolonged recession
throughout the United States. At about the same time, the Howell Works furnace blew out. The loss of the William Gibbons, along with difficulties in obtaining loans and the loss of product demand caused by the Panic, prevented the Works from returning to full production for two years.
Allaire was unable to obtain loans to take possession of his latest steamship, Home
, for more than a year after its construction. Soon after he did so, Home sailed only a few voyages before foundering and sinking off North Carolina
in October 1837. One hundred people died and the ship was uninsured. The accident cost Allaire $89,708, but his reputation suffered more because of the loss of life.
Howell Works was rendered redundant by the discovery in the early 1830s of abundant deposits of iron ore and anthracite coal
in the state of Pennsylvania
. Pennsylvanian pig iron was cheaper to produce than that of the Works. As coal burns hotter than charcoal, the iron was processed to higher quality. The Howell Works furnace was extinguished for the last time in 1846. Some operations continued until about 1850, when the Works was formally declared bankrupt.
Hal Allaire lived as something of a recluse, leaving the property largely unchanged but lacking the funds to fully maintain it. As the derelict buildings gradually fell into disrepair, locals dubbed the location "Deserted Village".
After Hal Allaire's death in 1901, the property was purchased by W. J. Harrison. Harrison sold it in 1907 to Arthur Brisbane
, then the world's wealthiest journalist
, for the sum of $68,000. Brisbane leased the Deserted Village to the Monmouth Council of Boy Scouts for twenty years. Following Brisbane's death in 1936, his widow bequeathed the property's 10000 acres (40.5 km²) to the State in 1941, in accordance with her late husband's wishes. It thereby became known as Allaire State Park
.
In 1957, a group of locals established an organization for the restoration and maintenance of the old Howell Works Company site, which they renamed Allaire Village
. The non-profit organization, Allaire Village Inc., runs the historic site in conjunction with the State of New Jersey as a tourist and educational facility.
Bog iron
Bog iron refers to impure iron deposits that develop in bogs or swamps by the chemical or biochemical oxidation of iron carried in the solutions. In general, bog ores consist primarily of iron oxyhydroxides, commonly goethite...
-based production facility for pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
which was established in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in the early 19th century by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
James P. Allaire. It is notable as one of the earliest American examples of a company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
.
Allaire purchased the Howell Works property to provide pig iron for his Allaire Iron Works
Allaire Iron Works
The Allaire Iron Works was a leading 19th-century American marine engineering company based in New York City. Founded in 1816 by engineer and philanthropist James P...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, which was at the time a leading manufacturer of marine steam engine
Marine steam engine
A marine steam engine is a reciprocating steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. Steam turbines and diesel engines largely replaced reciprocating steam engines in marine applications during the 20th century, so this article describes the more common types of marine steam engine in use...
s. The Howell Works also manufactured its own lines of cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
products. Allaire eventually transformed the Howell Works into an almost completely self-sufficient community, with its own housing and food supply for the workforce, its own post office, church, school and company store, even its own currency.
After bog iron was made redundant by the increasing availability of iron ore, Allaire closed the Howell Works and eventually retired there with his family. The property remained in private hands until being bequeathed to the state in 1941. Today, the Howell Works is a registered historic site known as Allaire Village
Allaire Village
Allaire Village is a living history museum located within New Jersey's Allaire State Park in Wall Township, New Jersey. The village was originally established as a bog iron furnace known as the Howell Works, which the company's owner, philanthropist James P. Allaire, endeavoured to turn into a...
.
Background
James Peter Allaire founded his first company, a brassBrass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
, at 462 Cherry Street, New York, in 1804. In 1807, Allaire received an order from steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
pioneer Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
for brass fittings for the North River Steamboat
North River Steamboat
The North River Steam Boat or Clermont was the first commercially successful steamship of the paddle steamer design. It operated on the Hudson River between New York and Albany...
, the world's first commercially successful steam-powered vessel. Allaire subsequently became interested in marine steam engine
Marine steam engine
A marine steam engine is a reciprocating steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. Steam turbines and diesel engines largely replaced reciprocating steam engines in marine applications during the 20th century, so this article describes the more common types of marine steam engine in use...
technology, and in 1815 he established a plant in New York for the production of such engines, the Allaire Iron Works.
Allaire soon ran into supply problems with his new ironworks. With little demand in the United States for the high quality pig iron necessary for building marine steam engines, the local pig iron industry was in its infancy and unable to supply him with either the quantity or quality he required. The best quality pig iron was imported from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, but high tariffs made it too expensive to purchase.
Allaire's solution was to become a manufacturer of pig iron. In 1821, a friend and business associate of Allaire's, Benjamin B. Howell, began leasing a bog-iron furnace in Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 630,380, up from 615,301 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Freehold Borough. The most populous municipality is Middletown Township with...
, which was known as Monmouth Furnace. After Howell informed Allaire of the property, Allaire decided to raise the capital to purchase it. On 27 April 1822, he purchased the furnace along with 5000 acres (20.2 km²) of the surrounding land from its owner William Newbold for the sum of $19,000.
Allaire's initial capital raising fell through and Newbold promptly sued for the balance, but Allaire was able to refinance. He took full possession of the property in 1823. He renamed the property Howell Works, in honor of Benjamin Howell.
Operational period, 1822-1850
The 5000 acres (20.2 km²) property purchased by Allaire contained a large swathe of swampSwamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
land — from which the renewable resource
Renewable resource
A renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability of being replaced through biological or other natural processes and replenished with the passage of time...
of bog iron was harvested — along with forests to process for charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
to fuel the bog iron conversion. Allaire eventually purchased an additional 3000 acres (12.1 km²) of woodland to increase the supply for charcoal making.
Workforce
The basic workforce was divided into three different groups:- ore raisers for mining the bog iron from the swampland,
- woodchoppers and woodsetters for charcoal production, and
- furnace workers, who included casters and moldersMöldersFor the World War II Luftwaffe fighter Ace Mölders, look up Werner Mölders or for the Luftwaffe unit Jagdgeschwader 51.----The Mölders family is a fictional family in Kaoru Mori's manga Victorian Romance Emma. There was stated, the Mölders is a German family which settled in a country house in...
.
Because of the area's isolation, Allaire realized he had to provide virtually all the facilities of a small town to satisfy the daily needs of his employees. Consequently, he hired additional artisans: a blacksmith, carpenters, brickmakers to supply bricks for new buildings on the grounds, farmers to grow food and raise cattle, millers, bakers, butchers and so on. In effect, Allaire built an almost entirely self-contained community.
Financial restructure
In 1824, Allaire sold 50% of the Works to his brother-in-law John Haggerty, who in turn sold his share of the business in 1827 to Thomas P. Wallworth. Allaire and Wallworth incorporated the business in 1828 as the Howell Works Company, with a capital of $150,000. By 1833, Allaire was the sole owner once again.Post office and company scrip
In 1831, the Howell Works secured a US Postal contract and opened its own Post Office. In the same year, the New Jersey LegislatureNew Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the Senate...
passed an act prohibiting the use of "tickets" - in effect, banning the use of currencies other than the state's official currency. Allaire had been planning to issue his own scrip prior to passage of the act. In 1832, he initiated a test case.
The courts found that the Allaire scrip did not violate the Act because they were "due bills" (IOU's). Allaire began issuing his workers the scrip, which was redeemable at the company store on the grounds, as well as accepted as payment by businesses in the local area. The scrip was issued in a variety of denominations, from tokens worth a few pennies to notes with a value of between $1 and $10.
Transportation hub
As Allaire's business grew, Howell Works became a major transportation center. In 1833 Allaire upgraded the original wooden carriage house, built in 1825, with a larger brick building. He established a stagecoach company that ran a freight-wagon line between Howell Works and his depot at Eatontown Dock (modern-day Oceanport). Later he built another depot at Red BankRed Bank, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,844 people, 5,201 households, and 2,501 families residing in the borough. The population density was 6,639.1 people per square mile . There were 5,450 housing units at an average density of 3,055.0 per square mile...
further north. To transport the pig iron from Red Bank to New York, Allaire purchased Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
's steamer
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
Bellona and established the first regular steam packet service between the two localities. Other steamboats used by Allaire to transport goods and supplies to and from the Howell Works included the Frank, David Brown, Osiris
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
, Iolas and Orus
Orus
Orus is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Orus are called Orusiens....
.
Company store
Allaire expanded the Howell Works Company Store in 1835 by constructing a new four-story brick building at a cost of $7,000 to house the steadily expanding range of goods for sale. The Store's goods included meat, fish and dairy products stored in the basement; hardware, flour, coffee, wine, liquor, groceries, ironware and other goods on the ground floor; and a wide range of furniture to suit buyers of different means on the second floor. The top floor held bulk items and was also used a storage area. The Store also contained the Howell Works Post Office, an apothecaryApothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
, and an early example of a soda fountain
Soda fountain
A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores...
. Customers came from miles around to shop there. At this time, the Store may have been the largest in the entire state of New Jersey.
Philanthropy
Allaire was not only interested in the physical wellbeing of his employees. In 1832, he built a church on the Howell Works grounds. The Church was EpiscopalEpiscopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
in keeping with Allaire's personal faith; however, he was tolerant of other faiths and did not require his employees to attend services.
A strong believer in education, Allaire did require the children of his employees to attend school, which he provided free of charge. Lessons were held three days a week, from dawn to dusk, for children of both sexes between the ages of about five or six to eleven or twelve. Children old enough to train as apprentices could continue their schooling on a part-time basis if they so desired. Lessons were held inside the chapel and provided by the resident minister—retained by Allaire at a salary of $500 per year—and an assistant.
Peak period
By 1836, Howell Works had expanded to its peak operation and size. By this time, the Works employed 400 to 600 workers, including not only those who lived in the Works community but many people from the surrounding region. The Works had expanded to over sixty buildings, including a large three-storey charcoal depot storing charcoal, bog iron and flux; the company store and the church; a carriage house and stables; a bakery, gristmill and slaughterhouse; a blacksmith, carpentry shop and wheelwright; an enamelling furnace; numerous row houses for married employees; and finally Allaire's mansion, which included a dormitory wing for the Works bachelors, managed by a housekeeper.The blast furnace now included two smaller furnaces or cupolas in addition to the main furnace, all of which were housed in a large casting shed and adjoined by an office, bridgehouse and wheelhouse (the latter containing a large waterwheel to pump air into the furnace). The cupolas were added for the production of cast-iron products, which Allaire was able to manufacture as a result of the surplus pig iron from the Works. His company manufactured items including pots, pans, skillets, kettles and other holloware
Holloware
Holloware is a term that refers to table service items such as sugar bowls, creamers, coffee pots, teapots, soup tureens, hot food covers, water pitchers, platters, butter pat plates and other metal items that went with the china on a table. It does not include flatware. Holloware was constructed...
; along with andirons, pipes, tools and machine castings. Some of these items were sold at the company store, but most were shipped north for sale in New York. Allaire established file and screw factories, the latter of which manufactured the first screws made on mechanical lathes.
Decline and closure
At the peak of Howell Works' production, however, Allaire's business empire suffered a series of financial and other setbacks from which it would never fully recover. In October 1836, his steamship the William Gibbons ran aground and was destroyed. In May of the following year, the Panic of 1837Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...
began, triggering a prolonged recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
throughout the United States. At about the same time, the Howell Works furnace blew out. The loss of the William Gibbons, along with difficulties in obtaining loans and the loss of product demand caused by the Panic, prevented the Works from returning to full production for two years.
Allaire was unable to obtain loans to take possession of his latest steamship, Home
SS Home
The SS Home was a steam packet ship built in 1836 and sunk in 1837 and commanded by Captain Carleton White.The Home was built for Mr. James B. Allaire, of New York City, a ship of 537 tons , 220 feet long and with a beam of 22 feet , propelled by two paddle-wheels mounted amidship...
, for more than a year after its construction. Soon after he did so, Home sailed only a few voyages before foundering and sinking off North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
in October 1837. One hundred people died and the ship was uninsured. The accident cost Allaire $89,708, but his reputation suffered more because of the loss of life.
Howell Works was rendered redundant by the discovery in the early 1830s of abundant deposits of iron ore and anthracite coal
Anthracite coal
Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster...
in the state of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Pennsylvanian pig iron was cheaper to produce than that of the Works. As coal burns hotter than charcoal, the iron was processed to higher quality. The Howell Works furnace was extinguished for the last time in 1846. Some operations continued until about 1850, when the Works was formally declared bankrupt.
Later history
In 1850, James Allaire was forced out of the management of the Allaire Iron Works in New York by his erstwhile business partners, and retired with his second wife Calicia and their only son Hal to the former Howell Works property. After Allaire's death in 1858, ownership of the property passed first to his wife and later to their son Hal.Hal Allaire lived as something of a recluse, leaving the property largely unchanged but lacking the funds to fully maintain it. As the derelict buildings gradually fell into disrepair, locals dubbed the location "Deserted Village".
After Hal Allaire's death in 1901, the property was purchased by W. J. Harrison. Harrison sold it in 1907 to Arthur Brisbane
Arthur Brisbane
Arthur Brisbane was one of the best known American newspaper editors of the 20th century.-Biography:...
, then the world's wealthiest journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, for the sum of $68,000. Brisbane leased the Deserted Village to the Monmouth Council of Boy Scouts for twenty years. Following Brisbane's death in 1936, his widow bequeathed the property's 10000 acres (40.5 km²) to the State in 1941, in accordance with her late husband's wishes. It thereby became known as Allaire State Park
Allaire State Park
Allaire State Park is a park located in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, near the town of Farmingdale, operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry and is part of the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route. The park is known for its restored 19th century...
.
In 1957, a group of locals established an organization for the restoration and maintenance of the old Howell Works Company site, which they renamed Allaire Village
Allaire Village
Allaire Village is a living history museum located within New Jersey's Allaire State Park in Wall Township, New Jersey. The village was originally established as a bog iron furnace known as the Howell Works, which the company's owner, philanthropist James P. Allaire, endeavoured to turn into a...
. The non-profit organization, Allaire Village Inc., runs the historic site in conjunction with the State of New Jersey as a tourist and educational facility.