Forges du Saint-Maurice facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Forges du Saint-Maurice |
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| General information | |
| Type | Ironworks |
| Location | Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada |
| Coordinates | 46°23′50″N 72°39′35″W / 46.3971999°N 72.6597000°W |
| Construction started | 1730 |
| Official name: Forges du Saint-Maurice National Historic Site of Canada | |
| Designated: | 1973 |
The Forges du Saint-Maurice (which means "St. Maurice Ironworks") was the very first successful place in New France where iron was made. This was a big deal for the colony! Back in 1730, the area near Trois-Rivières was already famous for having lots of iron in the ground.
Even though many different groups tried to run the forges, they often struggled to make money. The owners usually ended up with big debts. Eventually, the French government took over the forges directly after the second private company went bankrupt. They managed it until the British took control of the area in the 1760s.
In 1973, the Forges du Saint-Maurice became a national historic site. Today, it's a place where you can learn about this important part of Canadian history. When it was working, the plant made everyday items like pots, pans, and stoves.
Contents
Starting the Iron Industry
The First Company
François Poulin de Francheville was a successful businessman who owned land in Saint-Maurice. He was involved in the fur trade and wanted to try something new: making iron. In 1729, Francheville asked the King for special permission to mine iron on his land for 20 years.
The King was very generous. He gave Francheville this special permission and said he didn't have to pay any taxes on it. He also let Francheville use nearby lands, as long as he paid the owners for any farmland he used.
Before starting, Francheville also got a large cash advance from the King to help build the ironworks. Since it was a huge project, he teamed up with three partners. He still kept most of the control of their new company, called the "Compagnie des Forges du Saint-Maurice." His partners included his brother, another merchant, and important government officials.
In 1733, the company sent a man named Christophe Janson to New England to study how their ironworks operated. Francheville built some roads, but he also found a clever way to move heavy iron ore. He did the smelting in winter so he could use sleds to transport tonnes of ore over the smooth snow.
The company tried a method to turn ore directly into iron, hoping for a lot of iron. But Francheville and his workers didn't have enough experience to make it work well every time. This method was working successfully in the British colonies to the south.
Sadly, Francheville died from an illness in November 1733. He left his share of the company to his wife. The three remaining partners and the intendant (a high-ranking French official) named Hocquart took over. Even though Francheville's wife took his place, the company soon realized they couldn't produce as much iron as they had promised. The iron they made was often not very good quality.
In 1735, Hocquart sent iron bars and a model of the forges to France. He wanted experienced French ironworkers to look at them and give advice. Later that year, Cugnet, one of the partners, was left in charge with a lot of debt. He decided to hire a skilled French worker to come and check the forges.
Vézin's Time in Charge
The Second Company
In September 1735, a master ironworker named François Vézin arrived in New France. He came to inspect the ironworks and the land around them. Vézin believed that with a few changes, they could produce a lot of iron and create about 120 jobs. The government really wanted this to happen.
For example, the land for the forges needed to be cleared because it hadn't been farmed before. Vézin and some of Francheville's earlier investors agreed to take over the forges and all their debts. They wanted to start fresh with Vézin's ideas, as long as they got the same special permission from the King as Francheville did.
The new company officially started in 1737. It included Cugnet and Gamelin, who were previous investors. It also included Tascherueau, an important person in the French navy, Vézin, and another skilled ironworker from France. Local experts thought Vézin was too optimistic about how much power the nearby creek could provide for the forges. So, Vézin changed his plans and built a smaller forge. This meant it couldn't make all the different types of iron products they first hoped for.
Work began quickly with the help of another master ironworker sent by the intendant. The authorities pushed Vézin to finish construction fast, which unfortunately led to a poorly built structure. Many skilled workers from France kept arriving to help. But because of the rush and bad construction, some parts of the forges didn't work. This meant the skilled workers couldn't do their jobs.
The poor construction meant parts of the forges needed to be rebuilt. This made the operating costs higher and limited how much money they could make. All these problems kept slowing down production, sometimes cutting it in half. The constant setbacks caused the ironworks to owe more and more money to the French government. The government kept giving them loans, often thousands of livres, at the request of officials like Intendant Hocquart.
Vézin's estimates for the cost of the forges were too low, and his production predictions were much higher than what they could actually make. In 1741, Vézin's time running the Forges du Saint-Maurice ended. The forges had been struggling financially for many years, and the company finally went bankrupt.
From Private to Government Ownership
Government Takes Control
In 1741, the partners of the iron company said they wanted to quit. Intendant Hocquart saw two ways to save the forges. Either a new private company could take over, or the government would have to run them. While everyone waited for the King to decide, Hocquart put Guillaume Estèbe in charge of the forges for the government. Estèbe was a storekeeper from Quebec. He was asked to make a list of everything the forges owned and to manage them temporarily.
Hocquart didn't want to give up on the forges, especially since the King had already invested so much money. The intendant still believed that making iron would help the colony. He thought past failures were due to bad management and not enough money. He believed that if a new company with enough resources took over, only small repairs would be needed for great success.
However, the expected profit wasn't high enough to attract investors from France. Also, the money needed was too much for anyone in the colony to afford. So, on May 1, 1743, the forges officially became property of the French Crown. This was to pay back the unpaid loans from Vézin's company. The former partners were no longer responsible for their debt.
But some private people who had loaned money still needed to be paid. From 1743 to 1750, the government used some of the forges' profits to settle these old debts. Even though the government had taken over, officials still hoped to find a private company to buy the forges back. Because of this, the government ran the forges only temporarily. They refused to invest more than absolutely necessary.
No big changes were made until 1747, when a fire destroyed the lower forge. This forced the government to pay for its reconstruction. During this rebuilding, a "martinet" (a type of heavy hammer) was added to the equipment. French officials also sent two skilled molders from France who knew how to cast artillery (cannons) to Saint-Maurice. This new technology and these skilled workers allowed the forges to make more different products. They could now produce household goods and sell them in the colony. The forges also started focusing on making military items, but they never managed to cast good heavy artillery pieces.
Until 1749, the forges made good money. This success might have been because the government managed them carefully. Government officials didn't have to worry about paying back loans to the King like previous owners did. This allowed them to make smarter decisions. Also, more than half of the products were sent to France and sold at high prices. The government also set helpful tariffs (taxes on imports) for them.
By 1749, this good fortune changed, and the forges started losing money for several years. Expensive repairs couldn't be put off any longer. Also, more French imports meant more competition, which caused iron prices to drop. On top of that, illnesses spread among the workers, making them less efficient. Workers at St. Maurice were often unhappy, not skilled enough, or didn't follow orders. By 1752, worker problems caused many delays.
As older workers retired, young people weren't interested in replacing them. Men had enough work on their farms or in the fur trade. This shortage forced the government to pay high wages for low-quality work to the few remaining employees. To try and fix this, the government hired soldiers to work in the forges. Even though this wasn't a perfect solution, it helped production reach a notable high point in 1752. This became the most successful year for the forges.
Despite a sharp economic decline caused by the Seven Years' War, the forges were still important enough for the British to take over when they gained control of the colony in 1760. So, under government management, the forges improved. But they didn't become a complete success because of many wars and a lack of interest from local workers. The government's hopes of finding private partners to take over were also not met.
British Control
The Forges du Saint-Maurice continued to operate under British rule. They were rented out to private companies. From 1800 to 1845, Matthew Bell was in charge. In 1806, there was a disagreement when Bell's company was given the lease again for much less money than before. This happened because the government council had not set a minimum price.
In 1810, the forges made all the iron parts for John Molson's Accommodation ferryboat. This was the first steamship to travel on the St. Lawrence River.
The Forges du Saint-Maurice eventually became old-fashioned. They were finally closed down in 1883.
A Historical Site
In 1973, the Forges du Saint-Maurice became a National Historic Park. Later, this type of park was renamed a "National Historic Site." Today, archaeologists continue to study the site to learn more about its past.
Images for kids
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The Forges du Saint-Maurice in 1888, after they had closed.
See Also
- François Poulin de Francheville
- List of National Historic Sites
