Hopewell Furnace National Historical Site

When we arrived, a National Park Ranger was swearing in two new Junior Rangers. Sam and I so enjoyed watching the procedure and the joy and their faces. This place is beautiful and Sam and I really enjoyed our time here.

BUT … We did not know what we know now and sometimes the experience is a difficult one to process. Hopewell Furnace is an American 19th century rural iron plantation, whose operations were based around a charcoal-fired cold-blast iron blast furnace. Now as we live during the era of climate change with each year getting hotter and hotter, it is hard for me to celebrate coal. However, this was long ago and at that time it was truly “A Place of Opportunity”. And we also need to learn from history, acknowledge all of the truths and realities, and try to make our world a better place today and in the future.