Ironworks
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An ironworks or iron works is a place where iron is melted and shaped into heavy iron and steel products.[1] The word "ironworks" can mean both one place or many places.
Ironworks became common after blast furnaces replaced older ways of working with iron.[2] In the 19th century, a typical ironworks had one or more blast furnaces and other equipment for making iron.[3][4] Later, when the Bessemer process was invented, more ironworks began to make steel, and they were often called steelworks instead.[5]
The work done in ironworks is called ferrous metallurgy, which means working with iron. Sometimes, people use the word "siderurgy," which comes from Greek words for iron and work. This word is more common in French, Spanish, and other Romance languages than in English.
In the past, towns often grew around ironworks because people needed the jobs and housing provided by the ironworks.[6] When the ironworks closed or changed, these towns often struggled and did not grow as much economically.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Goetz, Hermann; Lasko, Peter. "Iron in metalwork and Western metalwork". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ↑ Crossley, Donald (1966). "The Management of a Sixteenth-Century Ironworks". The Economic History Review. Wiley: 273–288. doi:10.2307/2592252. JSTOR 2592252.
The change-over from the use of the bloomery to the blast furnace ... brought about notable increases in the scale of production
- ↑ Lorenz, Werner; Heres, Bernhard. "The Demidov Ironworks In Nevyansk (Ural Mountains) - Iron Structures In Building From The First Half Of The 18th Century" (PDF). International Congress on Construction History. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ↑ Doerflinger, Thomas (1984). "How to Run an Ironworks". Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography: 357–366. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ↑ Bezis-Selfa, John (2003). Forging America: Ironworkers, Adventurers, and the Industrious Revolution. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University press. doi:10.7591/9781501722196. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ↑ Roos, Annie; Gaddefors, Johan (7 April 2022). "In the wake of the ironworks - entrepreneurship and the spatial connections to empowerment and emancipation". The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. 25 (1): 21–31. doi:10.1177/14657503221089802. Retrieved 31 August 2024.