This Tablet by the side of the trail was placed by the Daughters of the Revolution to commemorate the Sterling Furnace and its many historic firsts including producing the iron for the first anchor made in NY State and the links of the Great Chain that stretched across the Hudson River in 1778 in hopes of stopping the British fleet.

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II

“Lakeville, a Vanished Community. At the height of production, the Sterling Ironworks employed 500 men. According to one list, they were “founders, miners, mineburners, ore pounders and furnace fillers, banksmen, and stock takers, refiners of pig iron and drawers of bar, smiths and anchor smiths, carpenters, colliers, wood cutters, and common laborers”. Some of these titles may be curiosities now, but each had an essential part in making raw iron ore into useful tools and weapons. At first, miners and other workmen lived rent free in company-owned houses, but in the 1870s, the Sterling Iron and Railway Company began renting 140 houses to the miners. In the wintertime, local farmers augmented the work force as woodcutters. Numerous foundations around the mine are reminders of the church, school, hotel, store, homes and offices that made Lakeville a busy little community. This home is one of the last remaining Lakeville houses; some of the other homes were moved to surrounding communities.” (Information Board. The pictures on this sign give some idea of the extent of this highly industrialized community that began in 1736. The wooded vista around you shows very little evidence of its former presence).

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II

We left the visitors center and headed off towards the furnace. The first thing we came across was the foundation of the Methodist Church that served many of the residents of Lakeville.

The Church as it once was. Sorry for the poor quality of the image – it was the best I could do.

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II