In 1768, Joseph Sharp erected a forge and furnace on the Wallkill River. The Village around the Sharp Iron Works became known as Sharp-Borough, later becoming Hamburg. Due to the expensive nature of the venture and competing forges, Sharp abandoned the property in 1774. Stephen Ford used it to secretly produce cannonballs for the British during the American Revolution. After reclaiming the property, Joseph Sharp Jr. built the stone grist mill in 1808. Sharp's mill provided the flour for the American Troops of the War of 1812. The mill continued to serve the needs of the agricultural community of Sussex County, New Jersey.
This marker signifying the contribution of local history by Joseph Sharp's Iron Works was placed in the year 2004.
A black cloud followed me all the way up a winding highway threatening to downpour at any given minute. I parked my pickup at strip mall and walked with my camera gear for a half mile up a narrow two lane road with that same black cloud still hanging over my head. Past the abandoned Gingerbread Castle and around a Wheatsworth Mill I followed an overgrown path that ran parallel with the Walkill River. The trees were dense with leaves and the river was flowing heavily from the Spring rains roaring over the two waterfalls. Another half mile following up the trail I can see in the distance a long slender smoke stack that towered over the trees with a beautiful brick pattern lining the crown at the top of the flue. I knew I was headed to see abandoned history with visions on how the Iron Works looked in it's day of operation.
Just as I was about to see the smoke stack up close and personal, that black cloud that's been haunting me for the past hour or so decided to open up and unleash her fury on me. There was now where to go for protection from the excessive downpour except for a sporadic patch of extremely dense leaves that would canopy me, deflecting the rain. Needless to say those beautiful tall trees did little good keeping me dry. In fact, it felt like it was still raining twenty minutes after the Sun came out. Did phase me any? No!
Regardless of the rain and how drenched I was, the magnificent view of what once was Joseph Sharp's Iron Works was breathtaking. Large tall windowless walls with no roof left. Colorful graffiti from teens glittered nearly everything they could reach. The smell of rain and wet soil filled the air bringing me as close to Mother Nature as I possibly could. I started snapping photographs…
Colossal sized hoppers
Redirected water flow to provide power to the plant
Drenched after the Black Cloud rained on me
Smoke stack still standing strong after all these years
Inside the base of the smoke stack
