It was a quiet walk along the Rockaway River in Boonton, New Jersey, but this narrow valley was once bustling with pig iron blast furnaces and rolling and slitting mills to produce nail rods and bar iron.
It was a quiet walk along the Rockaway River in Boonton, New Jersey, but this narrow valley was once bustling with pig iron blast furnaces and rolling and slitting mills to produce nail rods and bar iron.
Established in 1825, the Ironworks symbolized the rise and fall of northern New Jersey’s iron industry. During its early years, rich iron veins in the region were being mined, and iron manufacturing operations were developing. The development of the Boonton Ironworks, along with the Morris Canal and later the Morris & Essex Railroad, directly contributed to the growth of the Town of Boonton. After 1876, Boonton Ironworks entered a prolonged decline, mirroring the near-total collapse of the iron industry in the state.
