The Early Iron Industry and Its Impact on Wilbraham

Humans first began working with metals around 7000 B.C., starting with copper rather than iron. Iron was far more difficult to use; it rarely appeared in pure form and required extremely high heat and laborious hammering to remove impurities. By about 1400 B.C., people had mastered the techniques to smelt and forge it, and iron’s strength and reliability quickly made it indispensable to civilization.

When English settlers arrived in North America, they depended entirely on imported iron goods, nails, tools, pots, and weapons from England. These items were both expensive and scarce, as the nearest foundries were an ocean away, and the journey by ship took months. The colonists soon realized that producing iron locally was essential for survival and growth.

In 1641, John Winthrop Jr. of Massachusetts Bay Colony traveled to England to raise funds for establishing an ironworks in the colonies. England’s forests were nearly exhausted, but New England’s vast woodlands offered abundant charcoal for smelting. With English investors providing capital and colonists supplying raw materials and labor, the project took shape.

The first attempt at an ironworks, located in Braintree, Massachusetts, failed due to poor-quality ore and an unreliable water supply. Undeterred, the operation moved north to Saugus, where a new site opened in 1647 under the management of Richard Leader. Despite technical setbacks and occasional misconduct among the workers, the Saugus Iron Works successfully produced quality iron. It was also home to one of America’s earliest patents, granted in 1646 to Joseph Jenks for his improved design of mill machinery.

Although the enterprise struggled financially and closed by 1676, it proved that iron production in America was viable. The Saugus Iron Works laid the foundation for a growing colonial iron industry that would, within a century, supply roughly one-seventh of the world’s pig iron.

Saugus, Massachusetts Blast Furnace, 1644. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America

More than three hundred years ago, when Springfield was a small frontier settlement, iron tools were precious possessions, costly, scarce, and often passed down through generations. The colonists of Massachusetts Bay quickly recognized that local production was the key to progress. Shipping heavy iron goods across the Atlantic was too costly and slow to support an expanding population.

By 1643, the Saugus Iron Works became the model for other ventures throughout New England. Inspired by its example, settlers in western Massachusetts began searching for their own sources of ore. In 1675, three men from Springfield ventured west in search of deposits but were tragically killed by Native Americans in Westfield, a sobering reminder of the dangers of frontier life. Their determination, however, reflected the colonists’ deep commitment to developing their own resources.

Iron ore was eventually found closer to home in Chicopee, near the falls where Canterbury Street now lies. This ore, known as limonite or “swamp ore,” contained about 60 percent iron and could naturally renew itself over time as groundwater replenished the mineral deposits.

In 1697, Springfield’s leading citizen, John Pynchon, received permission from the town to establish an ironworks “upon the Mill River, below the present corn mill.” Pynchon was required to keep his saw and grist mills in operation to ensure that the community’s other needs were still met. He used red sandstone from Springfield’s Sixteen Acres area to line the furnace and local clay for bricks. By the spring of 1698, the ironworks were operational.

Pynchon hired John Mighill, possibly trained at Saugus, to teach local men the art of smelting. The furnace, rising some 30 feet, was first fueled with imported “sea coal,” but it failed to reach the necessary heat. Charcoal, though more expensive, proved to be the solution. The enterprise soon became one of Springfield’s major employers, supporting not only furnace workers but also men who cut timber, produced charcoal, and hauled ore and finished goods.

The Springfield ironworks encouraged settlement in the surrounding wilderness, including the Outward Commons, which would become Wilbraham, Ludlow, and Hampden. New roads were built to move ore and supplies, connecting the interior to the Connecticut River and beyond. Although the original furnace did not operate indefinitely, it established the groundwork for the region’s industrial growth.

One of several blacksmith shops that once operated throughout Wilbraham and Hampden, Glover’s Blacksmith Shop still stands today at 51 Mountain Road in Wilbraham.

In the following century, the area’s early experience in ironworking helped pave the way for new industries, culminating in the establishment of the Springfield Armory, one of the nation’s most important centers for manufacturing arms and metal goods.

Wilbraham and neighboring communities benefited directly from these early advances. Local blacksmiths relied on iron from nearby sources to craft the tools, nails, plowshares, hinges, and horseshoes that sustained daily colonial life. Iron was more than a useful material; it was the backbone of early New England craftsmanship. For Wilbraham’s settlers, access to iron symbolized independence, resilience, and the promise of a self-sufficient community.