Colebrookdale Furnace

Colebrookdale Furnace is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Berks County, dedicated 1967.

S Reading Ave. (PA 562) near Farmington Ave. (SR2040) SW of Boyertown

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Established on Iron Stone Creek, one half mile to the east, by James Lewis, Anthony Morris, Thomas Potts, and Thomas Rutter. Called after Colebrookdale Furnace in England, it is considered the first blast furnace to be erected in Pennsylvania, c. 1720.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

American Geographical Society Library, UW-Milwaukee

Historical maps covering this location

1708 · Carte Particuliere de Virginie, Maryland, Pennsilvanie. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1719 · A new map of the English empire in America viz Virginia, New York, Maryland, New Jersey… (American Geographical Society Library, UW-Milwaukee)
1755 · North America from the French of Mr. D'Anville, improved with the back settlements of… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1780 · A new and accurate map of the province of Pennsylvania in North America, from the best… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1862 · District, Pike, Washington, Earl, and Colebrookdale Townships, Berks County, Pennsylvania. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Carte Particuliere de Virginie, Maryland, Pennsilvanie, 1708, covering the location of Colebrookdale Furnace, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Carte Particuliere de Virginie, Maryland, Pennsilvanie, 1708, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

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