Phoenix Iron Works (Phoenixville, Pennsylvania)

Phoenix Iron Company was a major producer of cannon for the Union Army during the American Civil War.

In 1986, the new management of the renamed Phoenix Steel Corporation announced plans to close its remaining production plants in Claymont, Delaware.

CitiSteel refurbished and modernized the plant, spending $25 million to convert Claymont from a "specialty mill" that produced various low-volume, high-cost steels for specific uses to a "minimill" using technologically advanced equipment to mass-produce a few types of steel at high volume and low cost.

Under the guidance of the National Park Service, PAEDCO undertook exterior renovations and constructed the Schuylkill River Heritage Center which occupies 1,600 sq.ft.

The museum tells the story of the Phoenix Iron & Steel Company and also provides information about the industrial legacy of the Schuylkill River.

(www.phoenixvillefoundry.org) The Hankin Group acquired the Phoenix Foundry property from PAEDCO in 2006 to create an 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) event space.

[6] In 1855 John Griffen Jr. (1812-1884) developed the famous Griffen Gun while he was at the Safe Harbor Iron Works, a large rolling mill, located in Safe Harbor, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania) and was operated by the firm Reeves, Abbott & Co. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[7] Company owner Daniel Reeves spent much money on equipment and processes to modernize the factory and make it one of America's leading producers of iron and steel.

[8] The Phoenix Column, patented by Samuel Reeves in 1862, was a hollow cylinder composed of four, six, or eight wrought iron segments riveted together.