SNEC-SIA Saugus Iron Works Tour
Saturday, June 29, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Join the Southern New England Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology for a guided tour of the Saugus (Mass.) Iron Works on Saturday, June 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Tour Details A Park Service guide will lead the tour, explaining the iron-making process and the place of the iron works place in colonial history. Also covered will be the history of the site, including its archeological rediscovery and reconstruction.
You’re encouraged to bring a lunch to join a gathering at the site picnic area about 12 p.m., where SNEC-SIA’s Betsey Dyer will give a talk about the microbiology of bog iron. After lunch, you’re welcome to visit the site’s museum and visitor center.
There is no charge for the tour, but please register in advance for planning purposes. Register or ask questions about the tour by sending email to Ron Klodenski: ronksia@gmail.com. Please include a phone number for receiving last-minute updates.
Directions:
Street address for navigation systems: 244 Central St., Saugus, Mass. Location on Google Maps Directions, including public transportation
More about the National Historic Site: https://www.nps.gov/sair/index.htm The Roland W. Robbins Excavations, 1948-1953: https://www.nps.gov/sair/learn/historyculture/robbinsexcavationsbook.htm
About Saugus Iron Works:
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, at 244 Central St., Saugus, MA, is the site of the first sustained, integrated iron works in British colonial America. It produced pig iron, cast iron, and wrought iron by refining bog ore from nearby ponds, swamps, riverbeds, and bogs. The works operated from 1646 to 1670, and over the years was lost to local memory.
In the 1940s, archaeologist Roland W. Robbins discovered building foundations, blast furnace remains, a forge hammer, and other artifacts at the site. In the early 1950s, the site was reconstructed based on archeological evidence and historical documents. The Saugus Iron Works was added to the National Park Service system in 1968.
Today the iron works has a reconstructed blast furnace, forge, rolling mill, shear, slitter, and a quarter-ton trip hammer, with power supplied by water from the Saugus River, turning several water wheels. The 12-acre site also contains a museum, reconstructed industrial buildings, working waterwheels, a reproduction blacksmith shop, a 17th-century home, herb garden, nature trail, picnic area, visitor center, and dock.
