Incidentally, although Swett started out in New Hampshire, I think he moved
to Penn (Pittsburg ?) later on (perhaps before the Civil War ?). I think the
Glendon, Dilworth Porter & Company of Pittsburg were the biggest producers
of spikes (railroad & other) in PA in the last quarter of the 19th century
... the company had been started by Porter, Rolf & Swett (the same James
Swett who owned all the patents on spike producing machines) in 1852. So,
knowing the name of the foundry / mill would permit running searches on what
they produced and possible ties with the large spike manufacturers/ patent
owners.
> Hi Kelly,
>
> Exactly what I was thinking ... it's the right size/shape for
> bar-stock/blanks for railroad spikes ... but it clearly is not a completed
> spike. I was thinking it might be rejected blanks from a mal-adjusted
> early "Swett Rail Road Spike Machine" (or perhaps another off-brand
> non-patent spike machine). Swett had patents on these machines back to the
> 1840s ... with many improvement/patents through the 1870s. The Treadgar
> works started patenting improvements to his patents in the late 1870s
> (when the form had been pretty well standardized into what is still used
> today).
>
> If not railroad spikes, then perhaps some type of blanks for large spikes
> for boat/ship/bridge construction?
>
> The name of the mill / foundry would go a long ways toward identifying
> what type of products they made from historical records.
>
> Bob Skiles
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kelly Cooper" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 11:28 AM
> Subject: Re: unidentified iron bar
>
>
>> Maybe related to railroad? like a tie or spike?
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 12:24 PM, Bob Skiles <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Melissa,
>>>
>>> What is the name of the village / foundry / mill ?
>>>
>>> Bob Skiles
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Melissa Diamanti"
>>> <[log in to unmask]
>>> >
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 10:28 AM
>>> Subject: unidentified iron bar
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am looking for help in identifying an iron bar artifact from a late
>>> 19th
>>>> century village & foundry & mill site in Pennsylvania. Multiple
>>>> examples of
>>>> the same iron bar with a curved end have been found by the folks doing
>>>> basic
>>>> brush removal and clearing at the site.
>>>> The photos are not great, since they were jsut taken in the field with
>>>> car keys for scale. But I have posted two views of the iron bar (top
>>>> and
>>>> side) on Archaeoseek at
>>>> http://archaeoseek.ning.com/xn/detail/578807:Photo:27542
>>>> I hope I did this link correctly. If not, just check the new photos
>>>> for
>>>> two labeled iron bar.
>>>> If you are not a member of Archaeoseek and do not wish to subscribe to
>>>> this free service, I can also send them directly to anyone interested
>>>> in
>>>> helping me out. Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> Meli Diamanti
>>>> Archaeological & Historical Consultants, Inc.
>>>>
>>>>
>
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