My first stop in this occasional series…The Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

I’ve been a devoted fan of the National Park Service since childhood. After moving to Seattle at the tender age of nine, I can remember my first trip to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in the Pioneer Square neighborhood like it was yesterday. For a young person obsessed with adventure, travel, and history, it really had all the ingredients of something special. Just think of it: Gold panning! Grizzled prospectors! (some of them, anyway…) The Chilkoot Trail!

As tales of one ounce gold nuggets danced in my head recently, I thought: Why not take a few trips to some of the unsung treasures maintained by the National Park Service. To be fair, to the people who work at these sites, they are far from “unsung”, but on an everyday basis, they might not get the same media attention as say, well, a certain large river gorge in northwestern Arizona (you know who you are…)

First up on my peripatetic itinerary is the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site. Located in the town of Saugus, MA, the Saugus Iron Works site provides a rather engaging look into the world of early American industry. In some sense it’s a bit like going into a truly Ur-Industrial Revolution location, as the Saugus Iron Works was one of the first iron production sites in the American colonies.

When you get there, you can start off by viewing a short introductory film, then wander around the grounds to view their working waterwheels, a wide selection of iron-making tools, and if you’re really lucky, you might even get Ranger Brandon Chamberlain to make you a nail.

Speaking of that, listen and watch as Ranger Chamberlain talks a bit about the park (and the nail he made me):

Here’s another clip of one of the water wheels at the Iron Works in action:

And finally, an extended clip of Ranger Chamberlain making my nail:

Now that you’re ready to go visit the Iron Works, you can jump on the MBTA’s Orange Line and get off at Malden Station, then take the #430 bus (”Appleton & Shop Center”) from the bus terminal and ask the driver to let you off at the Iron Works. It’s all quite convenient, as there’s a bus stop right out in front of the site’s main entrance.

It’s a great trip for families, visiting industrialists, and those with a penchant for early colonial American history.

Looking for more information about the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site? Take a look at these links:

Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site (the official National Park Service website)

Saugus Iron Works 1647: The First Successful Iron Works in America [a pdf file]

The above link leads to a superb document created by the National Park Service and The American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1975. It provides some background history on the Iron Works, and also includes some information on the restoration work done in and around the site.