THE THOMAS IRON COMPANY.
Source: Lambert & Reinhard A
History of Catasauqua, 1914
Eighteen
interested people attended an initial meeting called to discuss plans for the
organization of an Iron Company. This meeting was held February 14, 1854, at
Mrs. White's tavern on Centre Square, Easton, Pa. The building is now used by
the United States Government as the Post Office of the city of Easton. A
resolution was adopted calling the Company "The Thomas Iron Company"
in honor of
David Thomas who projected it, and in recognition of his work as pioneer in
the successful manufacture of iron by the use of anthracite coal.
The
capital stock was fixed at two hundred thousand ($200,000) dollars, steps taken
to procure a charter and a committee appointed to select and purchase a site
for the works. David Thomas was authorized to purchase the Thomas Butz farm
situated on the west bank of the Lehigh River, about a mile above Catasauqua,
as the most eligible site for the works. The farm contained 185 acres 90
perches and the price paid for it was $37,,112.50. The deed passed July 7,
1854.
The
Board of Managers resolved, March 14, 1.854, to construct two blast furnaces,
known as Nos. I and 2. Contract for the mason work was given May 10th to Samuel
McHose of Allentown, Pa. Samuel Kinsey was employed as the first bookkeeper and
his services continued for twenty-four years.
A
contract for the first two boilers was made April 7, 1854, at a cost of $9,353
on the wharf at Brooklyn; and for two beam blowing engines on boat at Cold
Springs, N. Y., at $42,600. The engines had steam cylinders of 56 inches
diameter, and blowing cylinders of 84 inches diameter by nine feet stroke.
At
a meeting of the Board of Directors, June 8, 1854, the name of the place of the
furnaces was selected and adopted. The suggestion had been made to call it
Coplay-the town above it being called "Schriber's" at this time. But
after some discussion the suggestion of Hokendauqua, by David Thomas, was
adopted.
"Hokendauqua
derives its name from a small creek which empties into the Lehigh on the eastern
side, about half a mile above the village. It is an Indian word, 'Hockin' in
the Delaware Indian language signifying 'Landing.' The name, in fact, was not
given to a, stream of water, but was an exclamation used by the Indians at the
time the first Irish settlers located there in 1730. It was probably made use
of in speaking to the surveyors; a large portion of the streams were named in
this manner by the surveyors." (See Henry's "History of the Lehigh
Valley," page 300.)
On
November 9, 1854, the town was laid out, and the streets named. Homes were
built in 1868 for the General Superintendent, the Superintendent and other
members of the staff. Rows of brick houses were also erected for the employees
of the Company. The town has been supplied with spring water, pumped from a
spring on the river bank, since 1855. The Company also donated land for a
school house and for the Presbyterian Church.
THE THOMAS IRON COMPANY
PLANT.
The following list shows the date when
each of the six furnaces at Hokendauqua first produced pig iron (list made in
1904).
Furnace
Date
Present
Size
No.
I June
3, 1855 17
by 80 feet
No.
2 October
27, 1855 Abandoned
No.
3 July
18, 1862 17
by 80 feet
No.
4 April
29, 1863 Abandoned
No.
5 September
15, I873 17 by 60 feet
No.
6 January
19, 1874 17
by 60 feet
The
Thomas Iron Company owns furnace properties whose values run into millions.
Besides Hokendauqua, plants are located at Alburtis, Pa., Island Park, Pa.;
Hellertown, Pa.; and their holdings in ore lands and lime stone beds are almost
endless. They own properties in New Jersey, and in Pennsylvania near
Hellertown, Rittenhouse Gap, Red Lion, Bingen, and in North and South
Whitehall, Salisbury, Upper and Lower Macungie and Longswamp Townships. They own
the Ironton Railroad which is noted in this volume. The Thomas Iron Company
also subscribed 40 per cent. of the original cost of the Catasauqua and
Fogelsville Railroad.
At
the opening of the current century, the iron market was good. Nine furnaces
were in full blast, producing an output of 260,000 tons. At present but one
furnace is in operation in Hokendauqua. The affairs of the Company have always
been well managed. Thomas Iron Company stocks have been considered gilt-edged
investments. During the first fifty years of its history, the Company paid
dividends amounting to 560.91 per cent.
In
Hokendauqua the Company established a Church, gave $3500 towards the erection
of a building and donated the land. At Alburtis they donated property for a
church and $1000 for a cemetery. They also gave $500 toward the Hokendauqua
parsonage. In honor of five employees who gave their lives for their country
during the Civil War, the Company made a generous gift of money toward the
soldiers' monument erected in Fairview Cemetery. The war tax on pig iron alone
paid to the United States Government from July, 1864, to July, 1866, was
$200,423.83.
*********** OOOOOOOOOO ***********
Further
details of the formation and operations of the Thomas Iron Works can be found
in Dale WintÕs A History of the Iron Industry and Allied Businesses of the
Iron Borough, Catasauqua, Pennsylvania by clicking here.
*********** OOOOOOOOOO ***********
Historical
information on the Thomas Iron Works also appears in the Proceedings of Special Meeting of Stockholders
held on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the
company. This publication consists
of records of speeches delivered at the meeting and of newspaper articles
published in conjunction with the holding of the meeting.
The Board of Directors and Company
Officials at the 50th Anniversary Meeting
*********** OOOOOOOOOO ***********
Engraving from State
Archives, date unrecorded.
Another postcard view
Postcard – date
unknown
The following are 6 photographs of Thomas Iron Company's Furnaces at Hokendauqua, PA taken in 1938, prior to their demolition by the Bethlehem Steel Co., to whom the buildings were sold, and by them wrecked and scrapped. The originals of the photographs are found in Lehigh UniversityÕs online digital library, ÒBeyond Steel.Ó
30 tons of pig iron shipped to The McKee Fuller Company in 1882
Click here
for Enlargement
Return to the Catasauqua Industries Index
About The Hopkin Thomas Project
Rev.October,
2011