Speedwell Forge
Near Intercourse, Pennsylvania
Built in seventeen sixty along Hammer Creek in Lancaster County, Speedwell Forge was part of the iron-making corridor that made colonial Pennsylvania a center of American industry. James Old and his partner David Caldwell first ran it, but the most consequential owner was Robert Coleman, who bought it in the mid seventeen eighties and became Pennsylvania's first millionaire on the strength of his iron operations. Bloomeries and trip hammers beat out bar iron destined for nails, tools, and wagon fittings.
Speedwell ran continuously until eighteen fifty-four, when cheap anthracite coal moved iron production west to Pittsburgh. The stone buildings survived and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site is now home to a bed and breakfast and the Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania.
