Historical Sketch

The Bay State Iron Company was incorporated in February 1850 with a capital amount of $500,000. In 1855, the president was J. M. Forbes, and the directors were Benjamin Tyler Reed (1801-1874), who also served as the company's treasurer and was one of its largest owners; William T. Andrews; Samuel Hooper (1808-1875); and George B. Upton. By 1864, Benjamin Tyler Reed's son, John Hooper Reed (1827-1899), was the treasurer and later president. The company operated a rolling mill and furnaces at its properties along wharves and docks on East First, I and K Streets in South Boston to produce boiler iron, steel plates, and sheet iron. It sourced its ore and pig iron from mines and furnaces at Port Henry, New York. Its steel plates were advertised for boilers, fire boxes, and steam engines; it also provided iron to railroads. The company had previously kept business offices at 65 Water Street before moving to No. 2 Pemberton Square in 1867. In 1876, Bay State Iron Company won an award at the International Exhibition in Philadelphia from the U.S. Centennial Commission for its boiler plate using the Siemens-Martin open-hearth furnace process. By 1876, Samuel G. Snelling was president and J. Avery Richards treasurer.

Beginning in the 1870s, Bay State Iron Company began experiencing financial difficulties before ceasing business in 1883. It had been borrowing on western rail bonds it had purchased, but following a court decision that gave precedence to liens on roads held by states over individuals and corporations, Bay State Iron Company's banks were no longer willing to loan on the bonds. It also failed to raise the money from its stockholders to pay its creditors. With an estimated worth of $1,000,000, Bay State Iron Company began selling off its property and business assets in South Boston. These included its wharf and rolling mill consisting of sheet, puddle, skelp and plate mills, machine, blacksmith and pattern shops, two storehouses, and other buildings. The company also sold its assets in Port Henry, New York, including its furnace property consisting of blast furnaces, casting houses, blowing engines, machine and carpenter shops, engine house, foundry, dwelling buildings, as well as its mining property, which included 151 acres of the Barton Ore Bed, its 20-year right to a portion of the Cheever Ore Bed, and undeveloped ore beds near the furnaces. Business partners in Port Henry included Wallace Turner Foote, Sr. and George Riley Sherman, Jr. In 1897, after fires 1895 and 1897 damaged or destroyed portions of its South Boston property, the property was sold to Jesse Tirrell. All of the company's remaining real and personal property was sold to John H. Reed in 1898. He took on all expenses for the dissolution of the corporation. It took over 15 years for all the company's business and sales to be completed.