The Friends of Beckley Furnace

 

"What was this place, anyway?" That is the single question we at Beckley Furnace hear more frequently than any other.  We hope that this website will not just provide you with the answer to this question, but will also help you share in the fascination Beckley Furnace has for many of us today. for more information about Beckley Furnace, Connecticut's designated Industrial monument. -o0o- The restoration project for the dam at Beckley Furnace is now complete.  The grass is growing in, and things are pretty well back to normal -- with a restored dam, of course!  The State of Connecticut has done a great job, creating a modern dam structure that is faithful to the dam's original past. The CT Department of Environmental Protection has also rebuilt the bridge leading to the slag piles.  News about the projects is on our Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/beckleyfurnace and a few photos are in our 2011 photo album as well.	Beckley Furnace, seen from the bridge crossing the Blackberry River, in July 2009
VISIT BECKLEY FURNACE  for driving directions and a Google map. Knowledgeable guides -- members of the Friends of Beckley Furnace -- are onsite at the Furnace from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. each Saturday beginning in early June and continuing through Labor Day weekend.  Our guides are knowledgeable and are happy to explain the operation of the furnace and of the entire facility, to show early photographs and to answer questions concerning the 193 year history of iron manufacture in Northwestern Connecticut and the Tri-state region. Most Saturdays we have at least one member of our board on site and on some Saturdays we have two. Click here to see the roster of board members and when they served as guides in 2011.  We had our traditional Blackberry River Walk for 2010 and 2011, and photos are on our Facebook page (also, see photos of Blackberry River Walk 2009).  We had wonderful food, a great speech, and demonstrations of blacksmithing and stone cutting. We're omitting the River Walk in 2012 and are planning new and more exciting activities for 2013. Whether you can visit on a summer Saturday morning when guides are available to answer questions or whether you visit Beckley Furnace at some other time, you'll find that we have  interpretive signage that provides much information about how the whole operation worked.	We particularly welcome student and school groups -- and we see lots of them! Our experts are very pleased to tailor presentations to your group's interests, but we do require advance notice for guided tours during hours when we are not regularly open.    to see photos of some of the student groups that have visited us at Beckley Furnace in past years.
	We invite you to learn more about Beckley Furnace, and to see other resources about the Salisbury Iron District. See the photos from our Blackberry River Walks.