Sign in

Private company

Lehigh Crane Iron Company

Defunct ronmaking firm in the Lehigh Valley, USA

The Lehigh Crane Iron Company, later renamed Crane Iron Company, was a major ironmaking firm in the Lehigh Valley from its founding in 1839 until its sale in 1899. It was based in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, and was founded by Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, who financed its development through their Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, which promoted the then-novel technique of smelting iron ore with anthracite coal.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1839Founded1
  • HeadquartersPhiladelphia1

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

PSM V38 D480 Crane Iron works at catasaqua
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

The Lehigh Crane Iron Company, later renamed Crane Iron Company, was a major ironmaking firm in the Lehigh Valley from its founding in 1839 until its sale in 1899. It was based in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, and was founded by Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, who financed its development through their Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, which promoted the then-novel technique of smelting iron ore with anthracite coal. This was an important cost and energy savings technique, credited with eliminating the need for either expensive charcoal or coke producing processes and transport costs that proved central to the acceleration of the American Industrial Revolution.2

How it started

History

In 1837, the Yniscedwyn Works in Wales became the first ironworks in Britain to produce anthracite iron in commercial quantities, by use of the hot blast method. The works were owned by George Crane, and superintended by David Thomas. This discovery promised to provide a large market for anthracite, and the managers of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company wished to duplicate the process in the United States. After negotiations with Crane and Thomas, they were able to hire Thomas to emigrate and manage their proposed ironworks. The company was named in honor of Crane: it was organized on April 23, 1839 and incorporated on May 16, 1839, under a general act of the Pennsylvania Legislature. The LC&N supported the new company by granting them land and rights to water power (from the LC&N's canal) for their furnace.

Construction of the first furnace commenced about August 1, 1839, at Biery's Port, later Catasauqua. The ovens for the hot blast were coal-fired, and the blowing engine was driven by a waterwheel tapping the canal at Lock 36. The furnace was blown in on July 3, 1840 and the first four tons of iron produced July 4, 1840. It remained in blast until flooded by a January freshet in 1841, producing 1,080 tons of iron during that period.

No. 2 Furnace was erected in 1842, using waste gas from the stack to heat the blast instead of coal-fired ovens. No. 3 was built in 1846, and Nos. 4 and 5 in 1849, as the iron business increased.

The limestone flux for the furnaces was largely shipped from local quarries. A mixture of about 75% limonite and 25% magnetite ore was used to supply the furnace. Most of the limonite was mined locally: the first batch of ore smelted at the furnace was supplied by Henry Hoch's mine in Schoenersville nearby, and the mine was an important supplier of the ironworks for years, being worked from 1840 to 1908. Some magnetite also came from the Wieand mine in Vera Cruz, but it was principally shipped from the Irondale-area, Byram, and Dickerson Mines in New Jersey. Anthracite came from the LC&N's mines, shipped by canal boat for many years, and later by rail.

Expansion

From Wikipedia’s article on Lehigh Crane Iron Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded by Empire Steel and Iron Company1

Timeline

  1. Mar 14, 1899Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1839Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3