Elverson, PA: Central Pennsylvania Chapter, Hopewell Furnace and French Creek State Park Hike

We will gather in the parking lot of Hopewell Furnace at 9:30 and hike a loop on two of the many trails in the park and return to the Visitor’s Center. There we can see a brief video history of the Hopewell Furnace and then explore the buildings and learn how it once operated. It has not only the actual stone furnace like we have seen at Pine Grove Furnace, but also the accompanying buildings and works. It is an important part of Pennsylvania and US history, since it supplied cannons for the Revolution and stoves for an expanding nation. The hills and forests of French Creek Park supplied the massive amounts of wood to make charcoal to fire the furnace from 1771-1883 when coal-fired iron producing furnaces began to be built.