The Novelty Iron Works was an ironworking firm founded to make boilers in New York City , located on East 12th street in Manhattan. The founder was the Rev. Eliphalet Nott President of Union College of Schenectady, New York . Eliphalet Nott had invented a boiler and established the works to commercialize his invention. Among the first boilers was used to provide steam for his pleasure boat named the Novelty. This was used to demonstrate the boiler and so the community referred to it as the Novelty Iron Works. It was however registered as the firm of H. Knott & Company. The works was reorganized first as the firm of Ward Stillman & Co. then Stillman, Allen & Co. from 1842 until 1855 with the recruitment of Horatio Allen . In 1855 it was incorporated under its common name and continued operating until 1870. Although they were not the largest principals, the family of Eliphalet Nott long continued involvement in the ironworks as ownership changed through different firms.
55-473: As the only New York City firm capable of producing large scale bent iron plates in the 1860s, Novelty Iron Works was contracted to produce the turret for the ironclad U.S.S. Monitor , which was constructed and launched at nearby Continental Iron Works in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. This New York City –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This corporation or company article
110-468: A draftsman . During his time with this company, he designed the engines of the steam revenue cutter USRC Harriet Lane . According to some sources, he then became general superintendent of the steam engineering works of Henry Esler & Co., but another account states that he joined the Morgan Iron Works . In 1859, Samuel Sneden, a builder of wood-hulled steamboats in Greenpoint, Brooklyn,
165-611: A contract with the United States Navy for the construction of a radically new type of ironclad warship with low freeboard and a revolving gun turret . Ericsson subcontracted Rowland for construction of the hull, and the new warship—later commissioned as USS Monitor —was launched at the Continental Works in just 101 days. When Monitor successfully neutralized the threat from the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia at
220-626: A conventional furnace but with thinner walls, increasing the transfer of heat and thus efficiency. These corrugated furnaces were a popular product and were adopted on many merchant ships, as well as US Navy torpedo boats and other warships, such as the battleship Maine . The company built the first Thornycroft boilers in the United States—;for the Navy's first torpedo boat , USS Cushing —as well as manufacturing its own line of boilers. Other popular welded products produced by
275-471: A gas holder for a fourth that at the time was the country's largest, described by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as "a noted achievement in gas engineering". A wide variety of other metal products was also produced by the Continental Works through the 1870s, such as giant cauldrons and vats , machine tools, lifecars for lifesaving clubs, and torpedo casings for the Navy. In 1869,
330-772: A low bid for the construction of a large-diameter water mains across the Harlem River . Shortly after, Sneden ceded his yard to Rowland, who pledged to settle the failed company's affairs. Rowland renamed the yard the Continental Iron Works, and the water mains contract would later be completed by the new firm. The establishment of the Continental Works coincided with the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, and later that year, Rowland became associated with New York engineer John Ericsson , who had just secured
385-509: A mainstay of the company's business. The company exhibited its welding expertise at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and again at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. By the 1890s, the company had become the nation's sole producer of welded, corrugated boiler furnaces, which were used in both marine and stationary boilers. The advantage of corrugation was that it could provide the same strength as
440-479: A number of warships, including the battleship USS Maine , and its welding expertise was showcased at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. During World War I , the Continental Works built munitions for the war effort, including depth charge casings, and after the war, it increasingly turned to the manufacture of gas mains and large-diameter welded water pipes. The company's assets were liquidated in 1928, following
495-484: A particular task by 75 men. He also developed new working methods, such as heating armor plates before bending them. By the end of the war, the Works covered an area of eight acres, and is said to have been so crammed with buildings and wood and iron stores that movement around the yard by its employees had become both difficult and hazardous. At its peak, the firm's wartime workforce was in the order of 1,000 employees. With
550-436: A proposal to build a radically new type of ironclad warship with a low freeboard and revolving gun turret. On 4 October, he signed a contract with the Navy for construction of the new vessel, on the basis that Ericsson and his backers would assume all financial risk for the project and that the ship would be launched within 100 days. As Ericsson wanted to closely supervise the project, he turned to local New York companies for
605-522: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Continental Iron Works The Continental Iron Works was an American shipbuilding and engineering company founded in Greenpoint, Brooklyn , in 1861 by Thomas F. Rowland . It is best known for building a number of monitor warships for the United States Navy during the American Civil War , most notably the first of the type, USS Monitor . Monitor ' s successful neutralization of
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#1732852499163660-849: The American Geographical Society , American Gas Light Association, New Haven Colony Historical Society, Fairfield County Historical Society and New England Society , and an honorary member of the Society of Gas Lighting, Union League Club and American Yacht Club . He was also a trustee of the Webb Academy and Home for Shipbuilders , the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen and the New York Historical Society . Rowland struggled with illness in his declining years. He died on December 13, 1907, having only stepped back from
715-601: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers , and was one of only nine honorary members in his time of the American Society of Civil Engineers . To the latter organization he endowed an annual prize for exceptional engineering papers, known as the Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize , which is still awarded today. He was a life member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers , the New York Chamber of Commerce ,
770-555: The Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862, a "monitor craze" took hold in Washington, with contracts for many more such warships being issued to firms around the nation. The Continental Iron Works would ultimately build seven monitors for the Navy during the war —more than any other company in the country. The Works also built the turrets for an additional three monitors as well as building an iron-hulled gunboat and doing other wartime work for
825-582: The Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia in the 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads —the world's first battle between ironclad warships—would come to heavily influence American naval strategy both during and after the war. After the Civil War, a severe shipbuilding slump in New York persuaded the Continental Works to diversify into the manufacture of equipment for the growing gas lighting industry, for which
880-503: The Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia was threatening the Union fleet. Monitor ' s success in neutralizing the threat from Virginia in the ensuing Battle of Hampton Roads —the world's first battle between ironclads —sparked a "monitor fever" in Washington, and contracts for many more of the same ship type, dubbed monitors after the original, were quickly signed. Ericsson would eventually subcontract with Continental for
935-511: The Harlem River at Highbridge, Bronx , for the transport of water from the Croton Aqueduct to a newly built reservoir in Manhattan. Sneden & Co. won the contract with a bid of $ 49,000 (equivalent to $ 1,661,644 in 2023)—almost $ 20,000 (equivalent to $ 678,222 in 2023) less than the next lowest bid. A month after signing the contract, Sneden requested its voiding on the grounds of
990-536: The Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize for outstanding engineering papers, which is still awarded annually as of 2020. Thomas Fitch Rowland was born in New Haven, Connecticut , on March 15, 1831, the fourth of five children and only son of George and Ruth Caroline (née Attwater) Rowland. His mother died when he was six years old. Rowland was a descendant of Henry M. Rowland of Essex, England , an early settler of Fairfield, Connecticut , and of Thomas Fitch (1699–1774), one of
1045-509: The boiler furnaces of the monitor USS Monadnock . Another early application of the company's welding techniques was the manufacture of gas reservoirs used to store highly pressurized gas in self-propelled torpedoes, a weapon type that at the time was the subject of increasing experimentation by the Russian and other European governments. The Continental Works later pioneered scarf- and gas-welding , with welded products gradually growing to become
1100-405: The gun turrets for three other monitors during the Civil War, and later, in the 1870s, the hull of another, which was later completed at other shipyards. The Continental Works built a small number of ships in the decades after the Civil War, most of which were merchant vessels of one kind or another. [[]] Thomas F. Rowland Thomas Fitch Rowland (March 15, 1831 – December 13, 1907)
1155-644: The Ascension Episcopal Church in Kent Street, Brooklyn, was completed in 1885, Rowland paid the Church's outstanding debt of $ 15,000 (equivalent to $ 508,667 in 2023). On another occasion, when the rector of the Church—;whom Rowland had at the time known for only a few months—suffered a prolonged illness, Rowland paid his accumulated medical bills. Rowland was a vice-president and life member of
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#17328524991631210-529: The Continental Works, and are included here for the sake of completeness. The Continental Iron Works built a total of eight warships for the United States Navy during the Civil War—;seven monitors and one gunboat. Two of the monitors were not completed by war's end and consequently never commissioned. In addition to the United States Navy warships built by the Continental Iron Works, it also built
1265-423: The Navy. The Continental Iron Works also secured contracts during the war for construction of the turrets of another three monitors, and additionally built the iron-hulled double-ended gunboat Muscoota . In the course of building the monitors, Continental's proprietor, Thomas Rowland, invented a number of new machine tools to expedite the work, one of which is said to have reduced the required workforce for
1320-409: The business. Shipbuilding contracts for the Continental Works also declined sharply, but the firm had done better during the war than some other Naval contractors, and was evidently in a more sound financial position. More importantly, while the company continued to accept shipbuilding contracts when available, it began to diversify its business into other areas. The most important of these initially
1375-439: The company accepted a contract to build a swing bridge , of the bowstring girder type, across Bushwick Inlet. The bridge, designed by Rowland himself and capable of sustaining a rolling load of 60 tons or distributed load of 300, was completed by 1872. While the company secured only a handful of shipbuilding contracts after the Civil War, it nonetheless built a number of notable vessels during this period. In 1871 for example,
1430-499: The company as a fireman and engineer; he is said to have "fired the third passenger train that was sent over the road from New Haven to New York". In 1850, he took a position as 2nd assistant engineer on Connecticut , a leading steamboat operating between New Haven and New York. Discharged from this position following a change of ownership of the steamboat line, Rowland joined the Allaire Iron Works in 1852, where he worked as
1485-724: The company built gas holders , gas mains and complete gas plants . In 1888, the company built what was then the largest gas holder in the United States. Another notable achievement of the company in the 1880s was the construction of the country's first steel- hulled ferryboats . In the 1870s, the Continental Works became a pioneer in welding technology, and many innovative welded products would subsequently be produced by it, such as welded corrugated boiler furnaces for ships and other applications, gas-illuminated buoys , steel digesters for wood pulping and welded casings for torpedoes . The company supplied corrugated boiler furnaces for
1540-498: The company built the composite steam yacht Day Dream for Pacific Mail founder William Henry Aspinwall . Designed by Continental employee Lucius A. Smith, it was one of the first steam yachts built in the United States. In 1874, the Continental Works declined an offer from the Navy Department to build a new monitor, due to the terms of the proposed contract. Shortly thereafter, however, New York engineer Phineas Burgess took
1595-422: The company increasingly focused on the manufacture of gas mains and large welded water pipes. The company was liquidated in 1928, following the retirement of Rowland's son. In 1855, Thomas F. Rowland married Mary Eliza Bradley, daughter of Charles Bradley of New Haven, Connecticut. The Rowlands had four children: a daughter, Caroline Attwater, who died in infancy, and three sons, Thomas Jr., Charles and George,
1650-465: The company through to the beginning of World War I included gas-illuminated buoys , and steel digesters used to convert wood to pulp for paper-making. During the Spanish–American War of 1898, the company produced thousands of torpedo casings for the Navy. During World War I, the Continental Iron Works manufactured welded depth charge casings and other munitions for the war effort. After
1705-408: The construction of gasworks and other industrial fittings, and became a pioneer of welding technology, producing welded, corrugated boiler furnaces and other welded products. During the Spanish–American War and World War I , the company produced munitions . After World War I, it focused increasingly on the manufacture of gas mains and large-diameter water pipes. The plant closed in 1928, with
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1760-410: The construction of another six monitors during the war—four of the single-turret type like the original, and the two larger, double-turreted monitors Onondaga and Puritan . All would see service during the war with the exception of the largest, Puritan , completion of which was delayed by design changes and unavailability of the main armament, and Cohoes , the design of which was botched by
1815-457: The contract for the new Amphitrite -class monitor Monadnock , and Continental then accepted a subcontract from him to build the ship's hull. It was duly constructed by Continental at Greenpoint, before being knocked down into sections for transportation overland to Vallejo, California , to be reassembled by Burgess. Construction of the vessel was subsequently suspended by government indecision —causing great financial loss to Burgess in
1870-457: The end of the war in 1865, the American shipbuilding industry entered a severe and prolonged slump, caused partly by the Navy dumping a large number of ships now surplus to its requirements on the market, and partly by economic changes brought about by the conflict. The New York region was particularly badly affected, with many of its most prominent shipbuilding and marine engineering plants leaving
1925-710: The first two of whom mentioned following their father into the family business. Rowland was known for his genial disposition, and was said to be "universally esteemed" during his life; he was further described as a "leading and progressive spirit in the life of the Greenpoint community." He was active as a philanthropist , notably pioneering the practice in New York of granting a half-day holiday to employees on Saturday afternoons, which he extended to his own workforce with no reduction in pay. He also gave generous Christmas bonuses to his employees, ranging from $ 25 (equivalent to $ 848 in 2023) to $ 75 (equivalent to $ 2,543 in 2023) depending on their length of employment. After
1980-399: The government. At one point in 1864, Rowland attempted to sell the Continental Works and go into early retirement, but this did not eventuate, and instead he would remain the company's president for most of his life. During the war, Rowland was widely praised for his energetic and creative leadership. He patented a number of machine tools in this period, including one that reportedly saved
2035-414: The intervening delay, but was refused on the basis that the wait had not been excessive. Shortly thereafter, Sneden declared himself insolvent, and ceded his shipyard to his partner Rowland, who pledged to settle the failed company's outstanding business. Having gained control of the shipyard, Rowland renamed it the Continental Iron Works. The waterworks contract would later be successfully completed by
2090-433: The labor of 75 men. A "prolific" inventor, Rowland would file more than fifty patents over the course of his lifetime. After the Civil War, a severe and prolonged shipbuilding slump devastated New York's shipbuilding industry, and although the Continental Iron Works continued to build the occasional ship, it diversified into other areas, notably the supply of equipment for the burgeoning gas lighting industry, including
2145-730: The last colonial governors of the state, whose house was burned down by the British during the American Revolutionary War . Rowland received a common school education at Lovel's School and the Collegiate Preparatory School in New Haven. At the age of 13, he became the miller's boy in his father's grist mill . He eventually joined the New York and New Haven Railroad , reportedly as its first apprentice , later serving with
2200-454: The manufacture of gas holders , gas mains and entire gasworks . The company also manufactured its own line of boilers , and became a pioneer in welding technology, producing welded boiler furnaces, gas-illuminated buoys, steel digesters for the wood-pulping industry, and other products. From time to time it also manufactured munitions , notably welded torpedo casings, and depth charge casings during World War I . After this war,
2255-401: The manufacture of gun carriages , and for fitting out of merchant ships purchased by the Navy for war use. He also received a contract for the construction of mortar beds for Commander David Dixon Porter 's fleet of mortar schooners , which would later see action in the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip . In September, New York engineer John Ericsson presented the Navy with
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2310-509: The mid-1850s, in partnership with a young shipbuilder named E. S. Whitlock. In 1859, James L. Day, agent of the New Orleans & Mobile Mail Line and a repeat customer of Sneden's, requested that the shipbuilder construct an iron-hulled steamer for his company. Having no experience in the construction of iron hulls, Sneden took a young engineer named Thomas F. Rowland into temporary partnership in his firm, Samuel Sneden & Co., to assist in
2365-422: The new company. The establishment of the Continental Iron Works in early 1861 coincided with the outbreak of the American Civil War , which began in April of that year. In May, Rowland traveled to Washington, D.C. , to present the Navy Department with conceptual plans for a screw-propelled ironclad with revolving gun turrets . His proposal was rejected as unfeasible, but he did manage to secure contracts for
2420-479: The presidency of the firm passing to vice-president Warren E. Hill. Hill died in 1908, and Rowland's son, Thomas F. Rowland Jr., became president. Rowland Jr. retired in 1928, at which time the business was liquidated. The company's machine tools for the manufacture of corrugated boiler furnaces were purchased by the American Welding Company, after which, the defunct firm's site lay idle for some years. It
2475-488: The process —and was only finally completed in 1896 at the Mare Island Navy Yard . In 1884–1885, the Continental Works built the ferryboats Atlantic and Brooklyn for New York's Union Ferry Company ; these were the first two steel-hulled ferryboats built in the United States. In 1876, the Continental Iron Works became a pioneer in welding technology when it successfully applied plate-welding techniques to
2530-423: The project. Some basic ironworking facilities, including a forge , punch and shears, were acquired by the firm, which in 1859–1861 completed three iron-hulled steamers, including that for Day's steamboat line. Seeking to further capitalize on its investment in ironworking equipment, Samuel Sneden & Co. submitted a bid in 1860 for the construction of a quarter-mile long, large-diameter iron pipeline across
2585-469: The retirement of Rowland's eldest son from the business. Rowland was described as an energetic and inventive leader, who designed many of his own company's machine tools, accumulating more than fifty patents in the course of his lifetime. He also had an interest in philanthropy , and is credited among other things with having pioneered the Saturday half-day holiday in New York for employees. In 1884, he endowed
2640-455: The retirement of the founder's son. In 1851, New York shipbuilder Samuel Sneden relocated his shipyard from Manhattan to Greenpoint , becoming one of the first in his industry to do so. His new yard was located at the foot of West and Calyer Streets, just north of Bushwick Inlet . Over the next decade, Sneden would produce a substantial number of wooden- hulled steamboats and other vessels at this yard, both under his own name and, during
2695-549: The ship's construction. For the engines, he enlisted the services of his friend, Cornelius H. Delamater , proprietor of the Delamater Works, while for the turret, he subcontracted with the Novelty Iron Works —the only facility in the country then capable of bending its thick armor plates . For the hull, the Continental Iron Works, as one of the few New York-based companies with recent expertise in iron shipbuilding,
2750-439: The war, the company continued to produce buoys and furnaces, but increasingly turned to the manufacture of gas mains and large-diameter welded water pipes for the bulk of its business. The latter product had a number of advantages over riveted pipes, including smooth interior surfaces, lessening water friction, and reduced leakage. In 1907, Thomas F. Rowland, the company's founder and president since its inception in 1861, died,
2805-505: Was an American engineer and shipbuilder. In 1861, he founded the Continental Iron Works in Greenpoint, Brooklyn , which built ironclad warships for the United States Navy during the American Civil War , most notably USS Monitor , which successfully neutralized the threat from the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia in the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862. After the war, Rowland's Continental Works diversified into
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#17328524991632860-430: Was an obvious choice, and a contract to build the ship was signed by Rowland and Ericsson on 25 October. The new ironclad, named USS Monitor , was launched at the Continental Works in just 101 days (although Monitor was delivered a day later than the term specified in the contract, the Navy chose to waive any penalty). The ironclad was dispatched immediately after completion to Hampton Roads , Virginia , where
2915-405: Was later partly occupied by a lumber yard and a fuel company. As of 2020, the site was again idle. The following table lists the iron-hulled ships built by Samuel Sneden & Co. from 1859 to 1861, when Rowland was a partner in the firm. Though not strictly speaking part of the output of the Continental Iron Works, they were built with the expertise of Rowland, at the yard that would later become
2970-468: Was offered a contract by a regular customer to build an iron-hulled ship. With no experience in the construction of such vessels, Sneden invited Rowland into partnership in his firm, Samuel Sneden & Co., to assist the yard in making the transition to iron shipbuilding. Rowland accepted, and over the following two years, three iron-hulled vessels were produced by the partnership. In January 1861, however, Sneden & Co. abruptly failed after submitting
3025-642: Was the burgeoning gasworks industry, driven by the growing demand for gas lighting. Over the next few decades, the Continental Works would supply gas equipment to the industry throughout the Eastern United States, including gas mains , giant telescopic gas holders and complete gas plant installations. For one company alone, for example, the Consolidated Gas Company, the Continental Works built three gas plants in New York City, and supplied
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