By Elizabeth Norris
The West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York operated in a narrow brook valley between 9D and the Hudson River for most of a century (1817-1912). Today, the foundry's owner, The Scenic Hudson Land Trust, Inc., is partnering with several institutions to learn more about that history.
One of the most active partners, especially in summer months, is Michigan Technological University's Industrial Archaeology program. This year’s crew of eleven arrived in Cold Spring and gathered for dinner on Sunday May 8, 2005. For the past week, staff from MI Tech has introduced these students to Cold Spring and the site, photography, surveying equipment, and map making techniques. Whether you missed a presentation on May 15, 2005 about archaeology in Cold Spring or you have visited us in the past, we hope our web updates can be your connection to Michigan Tech, Industrial Archaeology, and an important archaeological site right in Cold Spring.
The West Point Foundry produced a variety of iron products during the nineteenth century including steam engines, early locomotives, sugar machinery, water system valves, and of course cannons. At their peak of production during the Civil War, there were over 1,000 employees making about one million dollars worth of cannons and projectiles for Union forces annually. The Office Building, built in 1865, still stands on the site. At first glance, it seems to be all that remains of the complex. But in recent years, students enrolled in Michigan Tech's Industrial Archaeology Field School have shown that much more of the foundry still exists in the nearby woods.
Michigan Tech is the only graduate program in North America dedicated to industrial archaeology (exploration of the material culture of people from the industrial time-period). In a partnership with Scenic Hudson, Michigan Tech has spent the last four summers exploring the historic documents, mapping the site, and using archaeology to learn more about the foundry. The site has become a classroom for students to learn about the iron industry and about excavation techniques. This summer, our focus will be on investigating two areas. We have expanded excavations in the blast furnace area to include looking at portions of the furnace and casting shed. We are also exploring some workers housing on the property.
The following web pages will contain regular updates and photographs on our progress down at the Foundry this summer written and taken by students enrolled in the field school. Michigan Tech would to encourage you to take advantage of this unique site by visiting us sometime this summer. We are looking forward to the return of Haldane’s fourth graders on June 9 and visitors to our “Days at the Foundry” open house weekend.
These “Days at the Foundry” are free and open to the public from 10 AM- 3PM and will be on SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MAY 28 & 29 (Memorial Day weekend) as well as over the weekend of JULY 16 & 17. We will be giving tours rain or shine, and you should probably wear protective and sturdy shoes and long pants to avoid ticks.
You can also look forward to hearing monthly updates about our progress at the West Point Foundry site in a column in the Putnam County News & Recorder. Thanks for seeing us on the web and we look forward to seeing you at the foundry sometime soon.
