Lansdowne Iron Works

While the existence of local ore was well known and various petitions had been made for the right to erect a foundry, it was not until 1801 that Wallis Sunderlin, a Vermont founderer, established the first iron works in Upper Canada at Furnace Falls. The works, which included both a furnace for the production of cast iron and a forge for the manufacture of wrought iron, were operated with limited success by Sunderlin and his associates until destroyed by fire in 1811. Attempts in 1815-16 to re-establish the works to supply the Kingston dockyard were ended with the agreement to limit armaments on the Great Lakes.

Bien que l’on connût l’existence de minerai dans la région et que l’on eût fait diverses requêtes pour établir une fonderie, ce ne fut qu’en 1801 que Wallis Sunderlin, fondeur de Vermont, créa les premières forges du Haut-Canada, à Furnace Falls. Sunderlin et ses associés dirigèrent, avec un succés mitigé, la fonderie qui comportait un fourneau pour la production de la fonte et une forge pour la fabrication du fer forgé jusqu’à l’incendie de 1811. On tenta en 1815-16 de rétablir les forges pour approvisionner l’arsenal de Kingston, mais la réduction des défenses des Grands Lacs annula ces tentatives.