While on my road trip of the northeastern part of this country, I was on the lookout for National Park Service properties that I had not yet visited. On this trip, I came across the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, and I am glad I did. I learned a lot!

Just south of Salem is Saugus, and in the mid 1600's, the area was beginning to grow, but the settlers were dependent on getting iron from England for things like nails, horseshoes, cookware, hinges, etc. It was very important to the governor of Massachusetts that his people were self reliant, so he set out to have an iron works built. So, on this SUPER hot day of over 100 degrees, I set out to Saugus to literally look at a blast furnace.

The site was only in use for about 20 years due to mis management, however, after it closed, the people that worked there all fanned out and helped create iron works at other locations, so it was instrumental in getting iron works started in the US. The property was demolished, but in the 1950s, some historians completely rebuilt it. It was very interesting, and I wish it was cooler out, because the tours and demonstrations had been cancelled for the day.

#Massachusetts