RevWar250 Lecture: Ramapo Mountain Iron and the Revolutionary War

The Historical Society of Rockland County Invites You to Join Us for

RAMAPO MOUNTAIN IRON
And the Revolutionary War

When: Sunday, July 26, 2026, 1 pm SHARP
Where: Lower-level Community Room, HSRC, 20 Zukor Road, New City, NY 10956
Price: $5.00 (space is limited, and prepaid reservations are required)

In the decades leading up to the Revolutionary War, rich deposits of iron ore were discovered in the Ramapo Mountains. Early entrepreneurs who sought to capitalize on this resource by mining and smelting the ore into products, however, were thwarted by British laws that prohibited the manufacture of finished goods in the American Colonies.

In this illustrated talk, Susan Deeks will discuss the ironmaking villages that existed at Rockland’s western border during the 1770s; the challenges they faced to protect their facilities, operations, and laborers; and their role in helping George Washington ultimately prevail over the British in the Hudson Valley.

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About the speaker: Susan Deeks is the executive director of the Historical Society of Rockland County. She has a master’s degree in history, with a concentration in the industrial history of the Lower Hudson Valley and specialization in the
historical iron mines, forges, and furnaces that operated in the Ramapo Mountains from 1764 to 1888.