Joanna Furnace Complex

Built in 1792 by Samuel Potts and Thomas Rutter III along Hay Creek in Morgantown, Berks County, Joanna Furnace was an iron-making works that operated under several companies, including Thomas Bull & Co., Darling & Smith Co. and Levi B. Smith & Sons. The furnace was rebuilt in 1847, raised from 28 to 40 feet and, according to the nomination, converted from cold blast to hot blast. Its surviving stack stands 40 feet high from a 28-foot square base, with a huge stone arch at the blowing entrance. Nearby are the blower/engine house, a sandstone building with Gothic-arched openings, and a two-and-a-half-story office and store with a slate gable roof. The complex is significant for its industrial features, which remain largely intact. The furnace is one of the few surviving works erected by the Potts and Rutter families, and it contributed to iron production in Berks County, then a leading center of American iron manufacture.