Oxford Furnace

Oxford Furnace
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest
Oxford Furnace in 2009.
Location:	Belvidere and Washington Avenues, Oxford Township, New Jersey
Coordinates:	40°48′14″N 74°59′52″W / 40.80389°N 74.99778°W / 40.80389; -74.99778Coordinates: 40°48′14″N 74°59′52″W / 40.80389°N 74.99778°W / 40.80389; -74.99778
Area:	0.6 acres (0.24 ha)
Governing body:	State
NRHP Reference#:	77000919[1]
NJRHP #:	2775[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	July 6, 1977
Designated NJRHP:	January 1, 1977

Oxford Furnace is located in Oxford Township, New Jersey. The furnace was built in 1741 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 6, 1977.^[1]

History

Oxford Furnace was the third furnace to be constructed in New Jersey and the first where iron ore was mined. The first two furnaces (Tinton Falls and Mount Holly) extracted ore from bogs in South Jersey, impure deposits called bog iron. The furnace was built by Jonathan Robeson and Joseph Shippen, Jr., both of Philadelphia, and owned by the Shippen family who lived nearby in Shippen Manor. A grist mill was built adjacent to the furnace in 1813. In 1835, it was the site of America's first successful use of the hot blast, in which preheated air was blown into the furnace, cutting production time.^[3] Oxford Furnace operated until 1884, the longest of any of the colonial furnaces.^[4] The nearby Methodist Church was built from the old grist mill in 1913.^[4] A restoration of the furnace occurred between 1997 and 2001.^[4]

Oxford Furnace as it appeared in the late 1800s.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Warren County, New Jersey

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Warren County". NJ DEP - Historic Preservation Office. January 10, 2010. p. 19. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo/1identify/lists/warren.pdf. Retrieved June 11, 2010. 
3. ^ Lewis, W. David. "The Early History of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company: A Study in Technological Adaptation", Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. October 1972.
4. ^ ^{a b c} "The Oxford Furnace Incident". New Jersey Skylands. http://www.njskylands.com/hsoxfordfurnace.htm. Retrieved 30 November 2010. 

External links

• View of Oxford Furnace via Google Street View