Visitor Center at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

OPERATING HOURS

The Visitor Center at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site is open year-round on Wednesdays through Sundays from 9 AM to 5 PM, except when closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Keep in mind that times can always change, so be sure to get the latest schedule on the National Park Service’s official Operating Hours and Seasons web page for the park.

Information desk inside the Visitor Center at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

AMENITIES

• Ranger-staffed information desk where you can ask questions and pick up a park brochure and trail map
• Museum
• Park film
• Book and souvenir store
• Restrooms are on the outside of the building. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day they remain open from 9 AM to 3 PM even when the Visitor Center is closed.

Book and souvenir store at the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site Visitor Center

PARK FILM

The 16-minute film Hopewell Furnace: A Place of Opportunity shows on demand in the Visitor Center theater. Just ask a Ranger to start it for you. The film covers the early days of the iron industry and the rise and fall of Hopewell Furnace, which produced 1,000 tons of iron a year at its peak between 1825 and 1840. Not only will you learn about the jobs and lifestyles of the people living at Hopewell Furnace, the film also shows how a furnace works. This is a live-action production that was shot on location at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. It is a very interesting film and should not be missed before you head out to explore the village. There is no objectionable material. The film is suitable for all ages.

MUSEUM

Museum at the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site Visitor Center

A small Hopewell Furnace museum covers various topics pertaining to the Pennsylvania iron industry and the history of Hopewell Furnace. While the exhibits are not presented in chronological order, it is still best to proceed around the room in the counterclockwise direction starting with the exhibit on the Pennsylvania landscape and why the state played an important role in the early American iron industry. The last exhibit is on how Hopewell Furnace became a National Park.

Most of the exhibits feature actual artifacts from Hopewell Furnace. These help illustrate the written information.

Exhibit on Hopewell Furnace products in the Visitor Center museum at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

One exhibit not specific to Hopewell Furnace demonstrates how an iron furnace works. This topic is also covered in the park film.

Exhibit on how an iron furnace works in the Visitor Center museum at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

Hopewell Furnace was renowned for its cooking stoves. An assortment of stoves are on display at the entrance to the Visitor Center, and there is another group of stoves in the museum. Stoves were produced up until 1844. By that time, the technology behind Hopewell Furnace was becoming outdated, and modernized furnaces where churning out stoves and other consumer products at a lower cost. For the last forty years of its existence, Hopewell Furnace’s main product was pig iron, which are iron bars that were shipped to refineries and factories that turned them into usable iron products. The furnace officially closed in 1883.

Display of Hopewell Furnace stoves inside the Visitor Center museum at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

Plan to spend at least 30 minutes and up to an hour at the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site Visitor Center. The park film takes up about 20 minutes, and it should not be missed. Those who want to read all the information in the museum will need another 30 minutes to do so. Of course not everyone is that interested in the history of Hopewell Furnace, but at least allow yourself a few minutes to walk through the exhibits.

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