Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument

The Beckley Iron Furnace is the centerpiece of the Iron Heritage Trail, which tells the story of the previously bustling iron industry in the Upper Housatonic Valley. The iron making industry there helped shape the formation of America for more than 150 years.  

The historic Beckley blast furnace was built in 1847 by John Adam Beckley, great-grandson of Esquire Samuel Forbes and grandson of John Adam, Jr., the founders of the Forbes & Adam Iron Company.  It was acquired by the Barnum & Richardson Company in 1858.  The pig iron produced there was primarily used to manufacture railroad car wheels, eventually gaining a worldwide reputation for their excellence and durability. The furnace was a part of the local iron industry that shaped both the cultural and ecological future of the entire region. The furnace continued production until the winter of 1918-19 and ceased operation in 1919.  

After the closing of the Beckley Furnace, the buildings and stack slowly deteriorated.  During World War II the site was extensively scavenged for scrap metal for the war effort, and even for bricks.

Then, in 1946, Civil Engineer Charles Rufus Harte recognized the historic importance of Beckley Furnace, and developed a plan for state purchase and preservation.  In addition to being designated as a Connecticut State Park in 1946, the Beckley Furnace was also designated as Connecticut’s sole official state Industrial Monument, as its best-preserved example of a technology that has long since vanished.   In 1978, Beckley Furnace was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

Following the state's purchase of the historic Beckley property, little had been done to maintain the furnace.  Rain and snow seeped into the furnace for fifty years, and the continuous freezing and thawing gradually resulted in the formation of structural bulges on all sides of the stack.  

In 1996, a group of area citizens with the support of local legislators, successfully obtained $250,000 from the State Bonding Commission.  An archaeological assessment was completed, and the Beckley Furnace was preserved. That group of area citizens evolved into the Friends of Beckley Furnace (FOBF).  

Members of the Friends of Beckley Furnace are available each Saturday morning from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. from May through mid-October to offer public tours of the furnace. Visitors can learn how iron was made by walking in the footsteps of the iron makers, stand in the hearth where temperatures reached nearly 3,000 degrees, and visit the only remaining turbine used to power a blast furnace.