Historical Research Report: Wheelwright Shop (Bldg. 35)

Hopewell Furnace showcases an early American industrial landscape from natural resource extraction to enlightened conservation. Operating from 1771-1883, Hopewell and other "iron plantations" laid the foundation for the transformation of the United States into an industrial giant. The park's 848 acres and historic structures illustrate the business, technology and lifestyle of our growing nation. This report concerns the Wheelwright Shop (Bldg. 35) at the Hopewell Furnace site. The Wheelwright Shop is shown on the 1887 Stokes photograph of Hopewell Furnace. The Architect and Archeologist both indicate that the Wheelwright Shop rested on a portion of the foundation of the earlier Casting House, The Historian quotes an interview which stated that the wheelpit was located in the north end of the building which would make an overlap unlikely. Exhaustive trenching over the general area of the shop location yielded no foundations other than remnants of a short wall near the southeast corner of the Casting House. Perhaps the building had no permanent foundation. The report concludes that wheelwrighting by a craftsman in residence did occur at Hopewell, but not in the pre-1840 period; a resident wheelwright did operate at Hopewell 1876-1883. More important, the structure did not trespass on the cast house, showing that it could have existed in the historic period at its last site. Definite size is still unknown, but either archeology or calculation from the Bull-1895 photo may produce definite details. Most likely, this auxiliary building not only provided sleeping space for the moulders but also provided space for plate cleaning, packing and pattern storage.

Historical Research Report: Wheelwright Shop (Bldg. 35)

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