Falling Creek Ironworks

Virginia Falling Creek Ironworks, c. 1622

Falling Creek Ironworks (2016)****

Name of Site: Falling Creek Ironworks (formerly the Virginia Company Falling Creek Ironworks [1619 to 1622] and Chesterfield Forge [1749 to 1770s])

Date Founded: 1619

Reason for Construction: First purpose was as an iron blast furnace to make iron from iron ore and more imperfect materials like limestone, then was repurposed to forge and create iron bar

Site History: Falling Creek was identified as a near perfect area for heavy industry in the early 1600s. Its history would soon prove it was doomed from the start. For every name change was a new attempt to save it and a new failure waiting to happen. In 1621, the first blast furnace was created on the site by John Berkeley with his son and 25 others. The ironworks supplied a great deal of iron to England. After the death of chief Powhatan and the power shift to chief Opechancanough, the natives were no longer friendly to the land-invading Europeans. On March 22, 1622, an Indian attack was planned with the goal of removing all the Englishmen from Powhatan lands. It was highly successful, destroying the ironworks in its entirety and killing most workers on site. Maurice Berkeley, a survivor of the attack, attempted to restore the wrecked ironworks, but ultimately failed in doing so.

The next attempt to restore the ironworks was in the period of 1634 to 1636. Sir John Zouch and his son spent a great fortune to try and get the ironworks running again, but also failed. In 1696, William Byrd I undertook the revival of the ironworks at Falling Creek. It is unknown if this attempt at revival was greatly significant. At most, he is credited with the building of a sawmill and tannery on the property. The ironworks saw iron once again in 1749 when Archibald Cary inherited the property from his father. There are many different stories regarding information on what happened from there, but it is believed that the ironworks was unprofitable and was shut down and turned into a gristmill, a mill for grinding grains. There was even a visitor that published a book and said that the works had been destroyed by the British in 1781 during the American Revolution. In the 19th century, the gristmill was enhanced and had a few add ons to help improve its function. Of course, these changes changed virtually nothing, as the mill ended up burning down. All that remained were a few charred walls.

Fortunately, from the 20th century forward, historians and scientists have been trying to restore and learn about the site. The late Howard A. MacCord, State Archaeologist, conducted excavations at the site in 1962 using Archeological Society of Virginia volunteers. The College of William and Mary also surveyed on both sides of the creek. Their efforts provided the first accurate map of the old gristmill. Today, Falling Creek is part of the Chesterfield County park system. The site is still under construction and is in the process of being restored. New pieces of the original ironworks are being discovered every now and then, including a set of timbers and some blasted stones.   

Area History: Falling Creek during the 1600s was mainly used for a source of iron. Iron was extremely valuable back then, so there were many attempts at extracting the ore from the area and exporting them to England. After the ironworks shut down, a grist mill was there to replace it. The area was significant in history because it was the first large scale industrial project in the thirteen colonies. It showed that the new world had valuable raw materials like iron and lead, which interested England. Today, Falling Creek is seen as a place that holds a lot of historical value and restorations are being made to share that historical value with the community.

What about the site has changed?: Due to the ironworks’ low iron production and constant destruction, none of the building itself stands. The complete water wheel, the furnaces--all were lost to decay over the years. However, there is a marker there today to tell where the site once stood. Also, there is a stone bridge (old Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike) that crosses over one of the many streams near the ironworks, pieces of which were fired from the blast furnace here. After the floods of the 2000s, some timbers from the water wheel were revealed underneath the mud, adding a bit to what remains of Falling Creek Ironworks. The site is now available for scheduled tours and hikes.  

What about the surrounding area has changed (if so)?: The area around Falling Creek was heavily forested in the past. The site was nearly invisible due to the sheer number of trees that surrounded it. It was also in the middle of Powhatan territory, leading to its demise. The area that surrounded the forests was very marshy and swamp-like. Its economy was heavily centered on mining and smelting. Now, Falling Creek still has some heavily forested areas, including the area the site is on, and a reservoir was built that is roughly about 23 miles long. The majority of the area, however, has been transformed into a common suburban area, taking down a chunk of the forests with it. There is less focus on iron-working than in the past, with business parks and retail shops providing most of the income.

Reflection:

(Leigh’s): Alongside the new facts about the ironworks itself, I learned a bit about historical preservation. If a site has been destroyed or molded, it is still possible to learn about them them via archeological studies (like the stones in the bridge), historical paintings, and seemingly insignificant documents. It was surprising to see that America’s first blast furnace was in Virginia, let alone Chesterfield. I had no idea Chesterfield was so important economically way back when. Then again, before this project, all I knew was that Chester was mainly suburbia.    

(Brandon’s): I live right along the Falling Creek reservoir, but before doing this project I had no idea that the Falling Creek area had some historical significance to it. I learned that even though some history can be restored, there will definitely be some inaccurate information. The ironworks was destroyed and had many restoration attempts, but there were many different stories that were told concerning it. It is hard to tell which story is the correct one, so it is hard to accurately know what happened in the past.

****The Picture: This picture had to be taken from the Chester Parks and Facilities webpage because the Ironworks site can only be viewed once a year on an annual tour. A tour was scheduled for early March, but due to inclement weather, was moved to May. Even though the 'inclement weather' was only drizzles, this is necessary for safety reasons. The majority of Falling Creek Ironworks site is ponds, lakes, mud patches, and grassy turf, because researchers are still digging for any remnants of the site, like timbers or metals; there's no true attractions or major markers, like at other sites. Any rain causes mudslides or slippery grass, posing a serious danger to tourists, or students with projects. Thus, no new picture could be taken by our group.
  

Sources (Chicago):

Falling Creek Ironworks. Photograph. Parks and Facilities. 2015. Accessed April

    2, 2016. http://www.chesterfield.gov/parks.aspx?id=6442455322.

Falling Creek Ironworks Foundation. "What Is Falling Creek?" Falling Creek

   Ironworks. http://www.fallingcreekironworks.org/whatfc.html.

Geist, Christopher. "The Works at Falling Creek." Colonial Williamsburg

   Foundation. Last modified 2007. Accessed March 14, 2016.

   https://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/Autumn07/iron.cfm.

Gregory, Donna C. "Groundbreaking for Falling Creek Ironworks Park."

   Chesterfield Observer (Chester, VA), March 13, 2013.           http://www.chesterfieldobserver.com/news/2013-03-13/News/

   Groundbreaking_for_Falling_Creek_Ironworks_Park.html.

Authors: Leigh Norman and Brandon Sun