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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
RINGWOOD, 12.3 1miles. (340 alt., 1,038 pop.), is more a company
than a town, and more a tradition than a company. It appears as three old
white buildings (R), neatly trimmed in blue-a two-and-a-half-story Victorian dwelling used as a BOROUGH HALL, a small frame structure housing
the EPISCOPAL CHURCH, and the large brick COMPANY STORE, all clustered around the Erie R.R. siding to the old Ringwood mine. The story of
Ringwood stretches back over 200 years of New Jersey history; the reputation of its iron mines, its forges, and the men who governed this 15,000-acre domain is unparalleled in a State that has known many forges and
many large landowners. For miles around the influence of the old company is still felt, even though the mines have been closed for several years
and the great house (see side tour above) is deserted. When a Ringwood
resident speaks of The Company it is in capital letters; there are only two
stores – both The Company's; and The Family can mean only the Hewitts,
hereditary owners of the Ringwood Co. and all its works.
The company was founded as the American Iron Co. in 1763 when
Baron Peter Hasenclever, a German, got wind of copper and iron ore discoveries in the Ramapos. The baron was a shrewd man. He bought up the
land, went to London and set to work selling shares to the ladies of the
court – even, it is said, to Queen Charlotte. The company made him manager of the property and sent him to Ringwood, where he opened an iron
mine, lived in great style with a German brass band to serenade him on
hot summer days, and made a great deal of money; very little of it went
back to London. The baron was replaced by Robert Erskine, young Scottish
mining engineer. It was Erskine who really made Ringwood. He developed the mine, opened new forges and rehabilitated the company's
finances. Erskine was a good friend of George Washington's, and when
the Revolution broke out the General appointed him geographer and
surveyor-general of the Revolutionary armies. The Ringwood mine played
a decisive part in the Revolutionary struggle. Its forges worked overtime
turning out cannon and munitions, and much of the great iron chain,
placed across the Hudson River below West Point to prevent the passage of
British ships, was cast at Ringwood. Robert Erskine died in 1780 at the
age of 45, but his forges made their mark on American life for a century
and a half afterward. Here were cast cannon used on the main deck of the
Constitution when she took the Guerriere in the War of 1812, and one of
the two mortars fired at the capture of Vicksburg. The Ryersons operated
the forges from about 1807 to 1853. They were succeeded by Peter Cooper,
founder of Cooper Union in New York City; Cooper passed the job on to
his son-in-law, Abram S. Hewitt, at one time mayor of New York, and
the father of Erskine Hewitt who now is in charge of the family interests.
The mine, glory and driving force of Ringwood for 200 years, ceased
operation in 1931 because of the competition from western ore close to
the steel centers. Once a power in America's life struggles, the Ringwood
Co.'s chief concern today is the promotion of Lake Erskine, a real estate
development.
The real estate business office occupies a large part of the COMPANY
STORE, which also houses the Ringwood post office and the Erie R.R.
freight depot. This is one general store without a cracker barrel, without
oratory, and without the friendly cluttered merchandise that has not seen
an inventory in years. The real estate business office has cleaned all of that
out. The only noise in the place is the clatter of typewriters and adding
machines. Neatly stacked blue denim shirts and overalls line the shelves;
bright glass cases exhibit nationally known brands of packed meat and
groceries. There are no penny licorice twists here; only 5-cent packages of
cellophane-wrapped candy advertised in every subway station in New York
City. Ringwooders come in, make their purchases, and go out.
The road crosses the short spur of the Ringwood Branch of the Erie
R.R. at 12.6 miles., passing the sizable white RINGWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOL (R).
Behind the school, silent in the scrub woods scattered with unpainted,
sagging shacks of former mine workers, is the entrance to the old RINGWOOD MINES – the Cannon, the Blue, the Bush, and the Hard. Peters and
Hope, two of the biggest, are about a mile farther up. Boarded and locked,
with only a caretaker in a tilted chair where once men worked to produce
iron for America, the mines have not been operated since 1931. Peters
Mine had a ghost in the days when production was steady and booming.
At irregular intervals the miners would hear him knocking for company;
the summons was nearly always followed by a serious accident. Now the
miners are locked out, and the ghosts have the run of the water-filled
shafts.
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