Hopewell Furnace NHS

This was our first stop on my birthday to mark off my 378th NPS unit. Hopewell Furnace is a well-preserved charcoal-fired iron furnace so important to the US in the late 1700s and throughout the 1800s. This particular site was integral to the Revolutionary War in that it created many of the cannon, cannonballs, and bullets used by American Forces during the War. Unfortunately, the Continental Congress was broke and never repaid the debt owed to Hopewell for the materials. Much of the site is original and a great place to see a full furnace setup, as well as the main house, housing units and barns.