In 1853, the Hopewell partners built a hot-blast anthracite furnace here. This new furnace did not burn charcoal but used anthracite coal to smelt iron in an attempt to reduce fuel costs and increase iron production. Hopewell's anthracite furnace operated for less than four years. By 1857, furnace machinery had been removed and installed on a new furnace on the Schuylkill Canal, suggesting that the cost of hauling coal made the operation uneconomical. There are no historical photographs of Hopewell's anthracite furnace, but an 1848 hot-blast anthracite furnace in Boonton, New Jersey was similar to the one that once stood here.