LOCK RIDGE HARDSCAPING S


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Following the end of World War I, the price of iron dropped sig- nifi cantly... As a result of these factors, the United States’ iron boom came to an end.


TURF PROFESSIONALS, INC. TU


Lawn & Landscape 610.965.4452


Lawn & Landscape 610.965.4452


www.turfprolv.com 018945


www.turfprolv.com PA018945


TURF PROFESSIONALS, INC. HARDSCAPING • LANDSCAPING • LAWN CARE 14 JUNE/JULY 2014


In 1917, the boiler house was completely rebuilt and modernized, while in 1918 the blowing engines, which are located in the engine room and provide the blast for driving the furnaces, were replaced. As noted by Milton Knedler, one of the Lock Ridge blacksmiths, this last upgrade was completed on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. According to Knedler, as soon as the blowing engine installation was com- plete he and many other workers left the plant and headed to Macungie, where the town’s band was playing in celebration of the end of World War I.


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general merchandise stores, a cigar and shoe store, a novelty store, a drug store, a tailor shop, three hotels, a saloon and res- taurant, a carriage works, a butcher shop, barber shop, blacksmith shop, two shirt factories, furnaces and silk mills.”


As a result of this growth, the commu- nity was offi cially incorporated as the borough of Alburtis on May 9, 1913. The following year, the Lock Ridge furnace earned the distinction of being the last furnace in the United States to still rely on anthracite as its primary fuel. Later that same year, Thomas Iron Company president Ralph H. Sweeter ordered a series of upgrades meant to ensure the plant continued production well into the 20th century.


Although the plant would continue to burn anthracite, two modern McKee-Nel- son stoves were added to furnace No. 7. These stoves allowed the furnace to reach blast temperatures as high as 1,250 de- grees in a faster, more fuel-effi cient way, while also requiring less maintenance than the old iron pipe versions.


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