The HGistoric Village at Allaire

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The Furnace Complex and Casting Shed were the heart and soul of the Howell Works Company. It was here that the raw bog iron was smelted down and refined, then cast into iron ingots or pigs as they were called. The name pig, which dates back to medieval times, may be derived from the fact that when the ingots were cast into the sand floor of the casting shed, the mould used to cast them reminded the casting shed workers of baby piglets suckling at their mother.

The earliest records in the possession of the Historic Village at Allaire show iron production at the lands as early as 1790 when the property was known as the Williamsburg or Monmouth Furnace. By 1822 the furnace was being leased and operated by Benjamin Howell of Philadelphia, a business associate of James P. Allaire in the Aetna Works, which would later come into the ownership of John Roach. Howell, it is believe, called the operation the Howell Iron Works and, in 1822, told Allaire about the site. Allaire, who was looking for an inexpensive source of raw materials for his marine engine manufacturing business in New York, was so impressed with Howell's description, and trusting Howell as a business partner, bought the lands site unseen. By 1836, the year celebrated at the Historic Village at Allaire, James P. Allaire would make vast improvements to the furnace complex adding a casting shed, wheel house, bridge house, company office and two smaller cupolas, or furnace stacks, for the production of hollowware, tools and machine castings.

Sadly, all that remains today of the Blast Furnace and Casting Shed complex is the main cupola, the best preserved in the State of New Jersey and possibly the US. Visitors to the Historic Village at Allaire can, however, see casting done at the Blacksmith's Shop where a forge is set up for this purpose.