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Howell Works (later the Howell Works Company) was a bog iron-based production facility for pig iron which was established in New Jersey in the early 19th century by American engineer and philanthropist James P. Allaire. It is notable as one of the earliest American examples of a company town. Allaire purchased the Howell Works property to provide pig iron for his Allaire Iron Works in New York, which was at the time a leading manufacturer of marine steam engines. The Howell Works also manufactured its own lines of cast iron products. Allaire eventually transformed the Howell Works into an almost completely self-sufficient community, with its own housing and food supply for the workforce, its own post office, church, school and company store, even its own currency. After bog iron was made redundant by the increasing availability of iron ore, Allaire closed the Howell Works and eventually retired there with his family. The property remained in private hands until being bequeathed to the state in 1941. Today, the Howell Works is a registered historic site known as Allaire Village. ==Background== James Peter Allaire founded his first company, a brass foundry, at 462 Cherry Street, New York, in 1804. In 1807, Allaire received an order from steamboat pioneer Robert Fulton for brass fittings for the ''North River Steamboat'', the world's first commercially successful steam-powered vessel. Allaire subsequently became interested in marine steam engine technology, and in 1815 he established a plant in New York for the production of such engines, the Allaire Iron Works.〔Swann, p. 5.〕 Allaire soon ran into supply problems with his new ironworks. With little demand in the United States for the high quality pig iron necessary for building marine steam engines, the local pig iron industry was in its infancy and unable to supply him with either the quantity or quality he required. The best quality pig iron was imported from the United Kingdom, but high tariffs made it too expensive to purchase.〔Swann, pp. 5-6.〕〔 Allaire's solution was to become a manufacturer of pig iron. In 1821, a friend and business associate of Allaire's, Benjamin B. Howell, began leasing a bog-iron furnace in Monmouth County, New Jersey, which was known as Monmouth Furnace. After Howell informed Allaire of the property, Allaire decided to raise the capital to purchase it. On 27 April 1822, he purchased the furnace along with of the surrounding land from its owner William Newbold for the sum of $19,000.〔〔Swann, p. 6.〕 Allaire's initial capital raising fell through and Newbold promptly sued for the balance, but Allaire was able to refinance. He took full possession of the property in 1823. He renamed the property Howell Works, in honor of Benjamin Howell.〔(James Peter Allaire ), Allaire Village website.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Howell Works」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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