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Two Centuries of Industrial History Unearthed at Putnam County Historical Society
Scenic Hudson and Michigan Tech partners in exhibition
 | | Cold Spring resident Mike Armstrong with Rita Shaheen, Scenic Hudson's director of parks looking over the conceptual plan for the West Point Foundry Preserve. More than 80 people were in attendance at the opening of the new exhibit |
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The full arc of American industrial history, from thriving manufacturing to malign neglect to rediscovery, is on display in a new exhibition which opened on March 30 at the Putnam County Historical Society's Foundry School Museum. The West Point Foundry: Unearthing the Past, Forging a Future tells the story of two centuries of industrial innovation and ecological destruction and renewal at Scenic Hudson's West Point Foundry Preserve in the Village of Cold Spring.
The West Point Foundry opened in 1818 and was a pacesetter in America's Industrial Revolution. Best known for supplying the United States government with ordnance, including the Parrott gun- cannon whose accuracy turned the tide of the Civil War- it also produced some of the nation's first steam engines, locomotives and ironclad ships. During its heyday, the foundry employed between 500 and 1,500 furnace men, blacksmiths, carpenters, office and machine shop workers, and others. It achieved national, even worldwide renown. President Abraham Lincoln visited in 1862. Jules Verne immortalized the foundry in his 1865 novel, From the Earth to the Moon.
After operations ceased in 1911, the site fell into disuse, the foundry buildings gradually were demolished, and the forest reclaimed the site, which also became a dumping ground and victim of industrial contamination. The worst pollution occurred at Foundry Cove, where from the 1950s through the 1970s, a battery factory spewed up to 200,000 gallons of nickel and cadmium into the water daily. The Environmental Protection Agency mounted a $100 million cleanup and restoration under the Superfund law in the 1990s.
The property, which had been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, was acquired by Scenic Hudson, a pioneer in environmental preservation and restoration long active in the Hudson River Valley, in 1996. Scenic Hudson has sponsored research at the site by faculty and students from Michigan Technological University's Industrial Archaeology Program since 2001.
Organized and funded by Scenic Hudson and Michigan Tech as well as the Putnam County Historical Society (PCHS), the exhibition uses Michigan Tech's discoveries to explore the three stages of the history of the foundry site. Displays on three original buildings highlight major aspects of the foundry's operations and its workers' lives: the boring mill, casting shop, and East Bank House. Photographs and other materials illustrate the neglect and contamination of the site during much of the 20th century and its renovation and renewal since 1992. Scenic Hudson's plans for a $3.5-million "outdoor museum" that explains the foundry's groundbreaking contribution to American industry as well as the land's ecological rebirth are also on view.
The exhibition includes archaeological artifacts and interactive displays. Since the West Point Foundry Preserve is a short walk from the museum and open to the public, visitors can easily take in the exhibition and visit its source.
Additional funding for the exhibition, which continues through December 14, was provided by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, Kearney Realty Group and Stearns & Wheler, LLC, environmental engineers. Storage for the West Point Foundry Collection is provided by the Village of Cold Spring.
PCHS's Foundry School Museum, located at 63 Chestnut Street in Cold Spring, is open Thursday-Sunday, 11am to 5pm. Admission is free for members and children under seven, $5 for non-members, and $2 for seniors. For information call 265-4010.
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