From Production to Preservation

After Lock Ridge’s last cast in 1921, the company closed the complex and it stood abandoned for many years, at a time when few people saw it as worthy of protection. The Butz family, who lived near the furnace, bought the property and sold the trains and machinery, while the tall furnace stacks were melted down and removed and some of the stonework and bricks were also sold. The family planned to clear the land for a housing development or nursing home, but Jean Caroline Butz Stoneback urged that the site be preserved, persuading Lehigh County commissioners that the furnace complex and surrounding grounds had historical significance and natural beauty. In 1976, Lock Ridge became a county park and work began on a museum within the remaining stabilized masonry structures. Artifacts came from Bethlehem Steel and from people with personal collections of tools and objects tied to anthracite iron production. Today, the Lehigh County Historical Society operates the museum in the weighmaster’s house, the Lehigh County Parks Department maintains the grounds as a popular park, and in 1981 the Lock Ridge Furnace Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Alburtis, Pennsylvania · United States