Around 1735, John Jacob Huber, a German immigrant, set up a tavern on Newport Road, which ran from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to the port at Newport, Delaware. In 1746 he sold the tavern and purchased of land in what is now Elizabeth County. By 1750 he built Elizabeth Furnace and began casting five-plate stoves, some of which survive today.
Huber hired another German immigrant, Henry William Stiegel, as clerk, and in 1752 Stiegel married Huber's daughter, Elizabeth. In 1757, Stiegel purchased his father-in-law's interest in the furnace.
James Old
James Old emigrated from Wales in 1750. Arriving in Lancaster, he was employed at Windsor Forge in Caernarvon Township. A few years later, he struck out on his own and built Poole Forge, also in Caernarvon Township. In 1760, he and his partner David Caldwell purchased land from Huber along Hammer Creek, and built Speedwell Forge.
Robert Coleman
was born in Caste Finn, Ireland, and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1764. Arriving penniless, his beautiful penmanship soon earned him a clerk position for the Reading Prothonotary. After two years, he was hired by Peter Grubb Jr. as a clerk at Hopewell Forge, in Lancaster County. However, in 1767, after only six months at Hopewell Forge, Coleman was hired by James Old, who had just leased Quittapahilla Forge in Lancaster County. Coleman lived with the Old family, travelling between Speedwell and Quittapahilla. Because of its distance from town, a forge had to be self-sustaining, employing farmers, lumberjacks, blacksmiths, horses, livestock, etc. Thus the iron master oversaw not just a forge, but a community. In 1767, Old took Coleman to Reading Furnace, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. In 1773, Coleman married Old's daughter, Anne. With the help of his father-in-law, Coleman leased Salford Forge, and began building his iron empire. In 1784, Coleman purchased Speedwell Forge from his father-in-law for 7000 pounds. After selling Speedwell, James Old purchased an interest in Hopewell Furnace in Berks County, Pennsylvania. There are indicators that he worked as a Justice of the Courts in Lancaster, and was a member of the State Assembly. Coleman owned several furnaces during the Revolution, receiving many contracts for munitions and chain links, which were stretched across the bays to keep English war ships at bay. Coleman reinvested his profits, buying many forges and furnaces, even the Cornwall iron mine. He became Pennsylvania's first millionaire, and by the time of his death, his legacy was fully established. Speedwell Forge was used as a training ground for his sons, before being promoted to furnaces.
By the 1850s, improvements in coal technology had produced anthracite coal, which burned hotter than bituminous coal. New furnaces burned hotter and were much more efficient, and the industry was moving west to places like Pittsburgh. As a result, many of the furnaces and forges closed. Speedwell closed in 1854; Cornwall held out until 1883. Some of the furnaces survived, simply because the furnaces were too massive to do anything with. Forges, on the other hand, could be completely dismantled and abandoned. As a result, there are no extant forges remaining in America.
Horse breeding
The Speedwell property remained in the Coleman family, and they began breeding standardbred horses for sulky racing. The quarter-mile training track is now used as the driveway for Speedwell Forge mansion, and the half-mile racing track is still visible at the top of the hill, in what is now a cornfield.
Lake and county park
In 1942, Margaret Coleman Buckingham sold the Speedwell property, and surrounding, to Gerald and Kathryn Darlington. In the 1960s, Pennsylvania state purchased about along Hammer Creek and dammed it, creating Speedwell Forge Lake. In the 1990s, Lancaster County purchased about also along Hammer Creek, and created the Speedwell Forge County Park.
The site today
Today, nothing remains of the forge above ground. There are supposedly some historic artifacts underwater, but the exact location of the forge is no longer known. The associated ironmaster's mansion was fully restored in 2005 by Dawn Darlington, granddaughter of Gerald and Kathryn Darlington, and converted into a bed and breakfast. In 2006, the property, which included a summer kitchen and paymaster's office, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
