{"nrhp_refnum":"66000645","name":"Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site","other_names":["Hopewell Furnace","Hopewell Village National Historic Site"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"R.D. #1, Box 345, 5 Miles S. of Birdsboro","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elverson","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.204982616500075,"lon":-75.7666351679475,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Hopewell Furnace, a restored 18th- and 19th-century charcoal ironmaking community in Elverson, Berks County, Pennsylvania, now Hopewell Village National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park System covering 848.06 acres. It includes the Furnace, water wheel and blast machinery, the Ironmaster's House, workers' housing, and related ruins.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the site is significant for its association with the American Revolution, through cannon, shot and shell cast for the Continental forces and the political and military service of its owner Mark Bird. It also argues the site illustrates life on an iron plantation and represents the hundreds of charcoal ironworks once common in the Eastern United States.","narrative":"Built in 1771 and operated until 1883, Hopewell Furnace is a charcoal-fueled, cold-blast iron smelting works in Berks County, Pennsylvania, surrounded by a community of workers' houses, a clerk's office and store, a blacksmith shop, and the Ironmaster's House. Its original owner, Mark Bird, supplied cannon, shot and shell to the Continental forces during the Revolution, and he also served in the Berks County Militia and shipped 1,000 bushels of flour to Valley Forge in 1778. The property is regarded as representative of the many charcoal ironworks that once operated in the eastern United States. Under the Buckley and Brooke families from 1800, the furnace was most profitable, producing the Hopewell stove. Its decline came with anthracite competition, and an 1853 anthracite furnace failed. The federal government bought the site in 1935, and restoration followed, with the Furnace and other structures rebuilt to show the 1820-1840 period.","period_of_significance":"1771-1883","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored and operated as a park; the Furnace was permanently shut down in 1883 and the site was purchased by the Federal Government in 1935.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.140537-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/66000645.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995455","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/hopewell-furnace-national-historic-site-66000645/"}