Beckley Furnace: Connecticut’s Industrial Monument

Beckley Iron Furnace is the centerpiece of the Iron Heritage Trail for the now-vanished iron industry of the Upper Housatonic Valley.  It’s also a model of industrial sculpture — so much so that it’s officially Connecticut’s Industrial Monument.

Located on a back road in the hamlet of East Canaan, in the northwest corner of Connecticut, Beckley Furnace is also a Connecticut state park.  People visit our historic blast furnace for many reasons: education, recreation, relaxation, and just plain curiosity.   “What IS that thing?” is frequently the first question visitors ask!

Whether you’re visiting this historic blast furnace for educational or research purposes, whether you’re embarked on our Iron Heritage Trail, if you’d just like to enjoy our park-like setting, or if you are just plain curious, you are welcome.  We (the Friends of Beckley Furnace, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization who maintain, interpret, and research Beckley Furnace and the historic iron industry) hope we can offer you some material that you’ll find interesting.

To see our recent posts look at the sidebar to the right. Also make sure to check out the Connections to Learning page if you’re a student or a teacher. The Learning Resources pages have lots of sources to go to for more information about Beckley Furnace and about the historic iron industry of the Upper Housatonic Valley.  Some are educational, and are directed toward using Beckley Furnace to develop thinking and analytical skills that serve in many ways.  For the history of Beckley Furnace itself, please check the About page.

Want to visit us?  In person, we mean!!  The grounds are open year round during daylight hours, and we have knowledgeable guides on site Saturdays from 10 AM – 2 PM in the summer months.

Theodore Perotti, of Pig Iron Films, has provided us with a video he made introducing people to Beckley Furnace.  Take a look! See some of our most knowledgeable people giving you a glimpse into how Beckley Furnace worked.  (Special thanks to Ted, of course!  And thanks as well to Dick Paddock!  You’ll also see the late Ed Kirby in the video.)

As useful as Ted’s new video is, we can’t forget the two Girl Scouts working on their Silver Award more than a decade ago who were responsible for our basic website design, and they created a welcome video way back then.    (Read about how  this website came into being on our About page.

Welcome to Beckley Furnace  on Vimeo.

Beckley Furnace, Connecticut’s only designated Industrial Monument, is the centerpiece of the Upper Housatonic Valley’s Iron Heritage Trail.