Lock Ridge Park (Part 2)

A young forest, reclaiming land once stripped bare by industry sprawls beyond the ancient furnace. The Swabia Creek, a tributary of the Little Lehigh, twists around inside the park. On this afternoon, the slower sections of the Swabia were frozen. Even in the faster runs, crystalline icebergs were present.


Abby and Eric told me that there were further structures hidden in the woods ahead.Before reaching any structures, we came across a bridge. There were stairs aside of it that led to a very small dam in the Swabia. Abby told me to be careful as I walked down the steps and eventually made my way onto the frozen water. Abby yelled at me. I knew the ice I stood on was safe, it was dammed by a log and shielded from sunlight.

I then decided to continue risking breaking the ice. I crossed the log to the other side of the creek. The water here, still frozen, was atop running water. This was not safe ice. I wanted to snap a quick picture of the underside of the bridge, so I figured a second on the ice would not compromise its structural integrity.

My weight placed down and instantly through the ice with a loud crack, my foot rested on the bottom of Swabia Creek. Abby said she told me so.


Tail between my legs, up the hill, and further down the trail, into the forest.


At various points throughout the forest, ruins were visible. A large outcropping of rock jutted out, high over the low valley the Swabia ran through.

The squish of icy water in my boot bothering me more with every step, I hurried Abby and Eric towards the last destination they wanted me to see before leaving. We made it across the snowy ground to more exposed rocks and concrete.

Sitting in my car with my wet sock and boot removed, the heater blasting on my red left toes, I thought of Lock Ridge Park and how I would write about it. More striking to me, as I sat there slowly melting, was the opportunity that Lock Ridge offers its visitors to view history. Yes, the obvious history of iron and coal but perhaps, more importantly, the new history of ecological succession.


This area has been reclaimed by nature. I know not how it appeared years ago in clouds of steam and soot. Today I see a developing ecosystem, beginning to thrive while still being affected by the long dead Iron Furnace. I will return in the warmer months to see what plants have developed, to see what this wet behind the ears ecosystem is offering.

The lasting image I take from Lock Ridge Park is the sight of red bricks, under the clear water and ice, scattered as if haphazardly thrown once their purpose had been exhausted.


Here, is where I fell through the ice:

Lock Ridge Park (Part One)

One Hundred and Forty two years ago I would have encountered a much different scene in Alburtis. I would have been witness to a scene at the height of iron manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley. I would have smelled the hot blast of the furnace forging iron and heard the whistles and brakes of the Catasaqua-Fogelsville Railroad as it stopped by Lock Ridge.

From the Delaware and Lehigh Heritage Corridor:
"Construction of the Lock Ridge Iron Furnace began in 1868 during the peak of the anthracite iron industry. Utilizing anthracite coal or coke rather than charcoal as fuel, a hot rather than cold blast to speed oxidation, and a steam engine rather than bellows to force the hot blast into the furnace, anthracite iron making flourished in the valleys of the Susquehanna, Schulkill, and Lehigh Rivers from about 1840 to 1890. Lehigh Valley was the most important center of the industry. The Lock Ridge Furnace continued to operate until after WW I, long after most other furnaces had succumbed to competition from major firms using modern equipment. The site was restored as a park and museum in the early 1970s. The furnace now consists of the furnace room, engine room and cast room of Furnace No. 7; the former weighmaster's house; the oil house; partial ruins of Furnace No. 8 and its associated buildings; the carpenter's shop; the blacksmith shop; and the piers for the trestles which received railroad cars carrying materials. The Lock Ridge complex is one of only two remaining furnaces of the many that were in operation in central and eastern Pennsylvania in 1876."

Long after the fall of anthracite, Lock Ridge is a much different place. The furnace itself was made a park in 1976 and what was left of the last anthracite using iron furnace was preserved.

This was my first visit to Lock Ridge and I had no idea what was waiting for me there. I truthfully knew nothing of the Lock Ridge Furnace or of the Iron Company. My local history knowledge mostly pertains to the city of Allentown. I was glad to be joined on my journey to two natives of the area, my friends Abby Weiner and Eric Yenser.

Abby and Eric were able to show me around and make sure I didn’t miss any of the major sights worth seeing and at Lock Ridge Park, there certainly are a lot of them.


With the silence of snow and winter, the old structures seemed ominous with their deep gray pulling the coldness of the sky into stone. Here, I stood in the ruins of the sort of business that put the Lehigh Valley on the map. Without the iron and the anthracite, the Lehigh Valley would be a much different place today.

The main structure of the Furnace has been restored as a museum. At the time of my visit, the museum was closed and I was unable to take a tour. I intend to return for one in the near future.

Near the plant, over the old Catasaqua-Fogellsville rail line,

are former schoolhouses.

In truth, even with a blanket of snow on the ground, there is something to see everywhere one looks in Lock Ridge Park. There is a large map to identify the remaining structures.

With nothing but the frigid silence I could not help but imagine the sound of steam, the sound of metal clanging against metal. I tried to hear the yells of sweaty, soot covered workers.

Beyond the Furnace, Lock Ridge Park is full of the natural world. The Swabia Creek runs through here and there are trails that head into the surrounding young forest.
Tomorrow, I will share the stories of that part of Lock Ridge Park as well as the story of my dumb ass falling through the ice into the Swabia.