Glendon Iron Company

The Glendon Iron Company was an iron company in the Lehigh Valley, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It was the second iron furnace in Lehigh Valley to be fueled by anthracite. The company was established in 1842 and disestablished in 1896. Its leaders were primarily based in Boston and Hazleton. The company's main methods of export were via the Lehigh Canal and the Morris Canal. The company started out with a single furnace, but eventually came to own five furnaces.

The first furnace of the Glendon Iron company received its power from two waterwheels in the Lehigh Canal. The waterwheels were 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter. The waterwheels powered a pair of horizontally positioned blast cylinders. The second furnace to be built was 45 feet (14 m) high. Its measured 10 feet (3.0 m) by 14 feet (4.3 m). After 1850, it was powered by a common blast. The common blast was powered by both steam power and water power. The third furnace to be built was the same height as the second. However, its bosh was 14 feet (4.3 m) by 16 feet (4.9 m). This furnace was powered by the same common blast as the second furnace. The fifth furnace had a stack that was 75 feet (23 m) high. It had a bosh that had a diameter of 18 feet (5.5 m). The stack was made of sheet iron. This was the most productive of the furnaces owned by the Glendon Iron Company.

In 1874, the first furnace of the Glendon Iron Company was rebuilt by William Firmstone with the intent of modernizing it. After being rebuilt, the furnace was 63 feet (19 m) tall, and its bosh had a diameter of 18 feet (5.5 m). In 1881, the second and third furnaces were rebuilt by Frank Firmstone, William Firmstone's son. The purpose of the rebuilding was again to modernize the furnaces. After being rebuilt, the furnaces were both 80 feet (24 m) tall. They had boshes that were 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter. All of the first three furnaces were modernized once more in between 1887 and 1889.

The Glendon Iron Company was established in 1842. The land was secured by the Boston businessman Charles Jackson, Jr. The company began to produce pig iron in 1844. A second furnace was built in 1846. The third furnace belonging to the company was constructed in 1850. In 1852, the company purchased the Teabo mine in Hibernia, New Jersey. They stopped using this mine in 1892. Charles Jackson, Jr. bought the South Easton Iron Furnace for the Glendon Iron Company in 1854. The company was incorporated in 1862. A total of five furnaces were owned by the company by 1868. The company began to decline in 1884. It bought steam-blowing engines from the I.P. Morris Company in 1893, but failed to stop the decline.