Although no battles were fought in northern New Jersey during the Civil War, West Milford's Long Pond Ironworks played a critical role in giving the North its industrial advantage over the South.

During the war, Long Pond Ironworks was part of the Trenton Iron Company, owned by Peter and Edward Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt. Long Pond's furnaces supplied pig iron to the foundries and rolling mills in Trenton. There the iron was manufactured into arms and other supplies.

In 1861, Trenton Iron began manufacturing mortar beds and selling gun sockets, rail, wire, and pig iron to the government. Cooper and Hewitt also invested time and money in experimentation. Before 1863, all iron used at the National Armory in Springfield, Mass., came from the English company Marshall & Mills. Cooper and Hewitt believed that they could replace the English import.

By 1863, they had succeeded: smelting magnetite ore from the Ringwood mines in the new charcoal-fired blast furnace at Long Pond resulted in iron that was uniquely suited to making gun barrels. The Sussex (N.J.) Herald reported at the time:

Cooper and Hewitt have . . . succeeded in producing an article not only equal, but much superior, to the English iron . . . . Every ounce of iron used in the construction of the celebrated Springfield rifles is mined and manufactured in New Jersey.

This Civil War Living History Weekend was sponsored by:

• Friends of Long Pond Ironworks: a nonprofit volunteer corporation working with the New Jersey State Park System, Division of Parks and Forestry, to preserve, restore, and interpret the Long Pond Ironworks Historic District, a National Historic Landmark site.
• New Jersey State Park Service
• 6th New Hampshire Volunteers: a nonprofit Civil War reenacting organization that portrays those who served with the original unit during the U.S. Civil War, from 1861 to 1865. Founded in 1989, the 6th N.H.V. is based in northern New Jersey. For information about joining the 6th N.H.V., visit the organization's website at www.6nhv.org.

The participants (in 2002) were:

• 6th New Hampshire Volunteers
• 15th New York Cavalry
• 3rd Alabama Volunteers
• New Jersey Light Artillery
• West Milford Heritage Quilters
• For the Love of Mud Pottery
• Hudson Valley Spinners and Weavers
• Bradley Shane, Blacksmith
• West Milford High School InterAct Club

• 1-A Ranch Steakhouse Restaurant
• Castronova's Valley View Pub
• George Cluff and Eden Farms
• Enviro-Clean (Clintondale, NY)
• Evergreen Farms
• Gagliano Recycling
• Gwenhwyfar's Garden
• J&J Beekeeping
• Rent-a-John (Sparta, NJ)
• Rocking Horse Ranch
• Town & Country Florist
• West Milford High School Honors Art Society

This project is funded, in part, by the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council at Passaic County Community College and made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment of the Arts.