The Oregon Iron Company was an iron smelting company located in what is now Lake Oswego, Oregon. The company was established in 1865, and in 1867, became the first company west of the Rocky Mountains in the United States to smelt iron. The company failed after a few years, but was reorganized as the Oswego Iron Company in 1878, and again as the Oregon Iron and Steel Company in 1883. With the addition of a larger furnace, the last incarnation of the company prospered, reaching peak production in 1890. By 1894, however, pressure from cheaper imported iron combined with the effects of the Panic of 1893 forced the company to close its smelter. The company continued to operate a pipe foundry until 1928, and until the early 1960s, existed as a land management company, selling its real estate holdings which expanded the city of Lake Oswego.
Restored remnants of the Oregon Iron Company Furnace
This cottage in Lake Oswego's Old Town was built by the Oswego Iron Company for workers in about 1882. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Remains of the crucible of the second furnace in Lake Oswego's Roehr Park on the bank of the Willamette River
Lake Oswego is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Population in 2020 was 40,731, a 11.2% increase since 2010, making it the 11th most populous city in Oregon. Located about 7 miles (11 km) south of Portland and surrounding the 405-acre (164 ha) Oswego Lake, the town was founded in 1847 and incorporated as Oswego in 1910. The city was the hub of Oregon's brief iron industry in the late 19th century, and is today a suburb of Portland.
Oswego Lake in the center of the city
Seal
Restored remains of the 1866 Oregon Iron Company furnace, in George Rogers Park
The Portland Oregon Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is located in Lake Oswego.
