Reading Furnace Historic District

The Reading Furnace Historic District is a national historic district that is located in Warwick Township and East Nantmeal Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Reading Furnace Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Reading Furnace and Farm buildings, September 2010
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Location	Mansion Road, Warwick Township and East Nantmeal Township, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°08′49″N 75°46′08″W / 40.14694°N 75.76889°W / 40.14694; -75.76889
Area	13.3 acres (5.4 ha)
Built	1744
Built by	Drexel, Gottlieb
Architect	Okie, Richardson Brognard
NRHP reference No.	87000797^[1]
Added to NRHP	July 30, 1987

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.^[1]

History and architectural features

The Reading Furnace was built in 1736 by iron pioneer William Branson, then later owned by his grandson, a prominent Iron works owner and American Revolutionary War officer, Samuel Van Leer.^[2] Branson also owned the nearby historical Warrenpoint House^[3]

The furnace was a center of colonial iron making and is associated with the introduction of the Franklin Stove, and the retreat of George Washington's army following its defeat at the Battle of Brandywine, where they came for musket repairs. Nathanael Greene's company and Washington were both recorded encamping here.^[4][5][6]

The location is listed as the site of one of George Washington's temporary headquarters.^[4][7] This furnace also supplied cannons and cannonballs for the Revolutionary Army.^[8]

The district includes seven contributing buildings, two contributing sites, and one contributing structure with a former iron furnace and farm. The buildings are the mansion house, the tenant house, a barn, a large shed, and three outbuildings. The stone mansion was built in three sections between 1744 and 1936. The latest addition was completed under the direction of R. Brognard Okie.

The contributing sites are the remains of an eighteenth-century dam and the foundation of the 1736 Reading Furnace. The contributing structure is a stone arch bridge (1904).^[2]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.^[1]

Gallery

•  
  Reading Mansion

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Chester County, Pennsylvania
• List of Washington's Headquarters during the Revolutionary War

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. . ARCH: Pennsylvania's Historic Architecture & Archaeology. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on October 28, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2012. Note: This includes Estelle Cremers and William Sisson (1987). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: Reading Furnace Historic District" (PDF). Retrieved December 7, 2012.
3. "PHMC Historical Markers". Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
4. "Founders Online: General Orders, 18 September 1777". Head Quarters, at Reading Furnace [Pa.]
5. "General Washington retreated to Reading to have the army's muskets repaired,," Reading Furnace Historic District Historical Marker, May 12, 1948.
6. Jordan, J. A. Lemay (1962). The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 2: Printer and Publisher, 1730-1747. pp. 468–470. ISBN 9780806352398.
7. "The Iron and Steel Heritage partners with Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources".
8. Montgomery, Morton L. (1884). "Early Furnaces and Forges of Berks County, Pennsylvania". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 8 (1): 56–81. JSTOR 20084640.