Furnace Village Historic District

Furnace Village in Easton, Massachusetts, is a 131-acre district of mills, ponds, canals, cemeteries and modest houses shaped by water power. An iron furnace founded in 1751 by a group of nine men used local bog iron and the nearby brooks. During the Revolutionary War, owner James Perry supplied the Continental Army with cannon and cannonballs, and a retaining wall used in proofing cannon still stands by Old Pond. Sheperd Leach later expanded the water system, and by 1823 three ponds served the works. Fires destroyed most original foundry buildings, though the charcoal shed and the company office survive. Belcher Malleable Iron Company continues the industry today. The houses are mostly simple wood-frame vernacular buildings, with notable Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival examples such as the 1723 Josiah Keith House and the 1812 Lincoln-Drake House. Prehistoric artifacts and remains of early mills add archaeological value.