Principio Foundry

The Principio Company began in 1714 as an industrial venture among English businessmen. With faltering iron production in Britain, they hoped to identify and produce new iron sources in America. By 1722, the company had purchased land on Principio Creek in Maryland; within a year, a blast furnace was operation at the site. Principio constituted on of the earliest such ventures in the British colonies, and it was the first iron furnace in Maryland.

Principio Furnace grew quickly. In 1725, a forge was added to the site. One of the company’s key early partners was Augustine Washington, father of future President George Washington. Augustine delivered ore to the company, in which he owned a one-twelfth share. By the mid-1700s, roughly half of American iron being exported to Great Britain came from Principio.

During the Revolutionary War, the English-based Principio Company lost control of its Maryland foundry. The foundry instead provided iron and cannon balls to the Continental Army. In the war’s latter years, the site was confiscated by the Maryland General Assembly. It resumed operations in private hands following the end of the war, when another blast furnace was added.

The foundry again became an important manufacturer of war goods with the outbreak of the War of 1812. Principio Foundry was one of the few iron foundries in the United States capable of producing artillery. Yet its location along Principio Creek just off the Chesapeake Bay made it a vulnerable target. In early 1813, the British Royal Navy blockaded the Chesapeake and began conducting raids along the Bay coast.

On May 3, 1813, Rear Admiral George Cockburn led a raid on Havre de Grace, Maryland, just a few miles from the Principio Foundry. Admiral Cockburn’s forces routed a small force of Maryland militia and burned most of the town. While in Havre de Grace, Cockburn learned of Principio Foundry just to the north. With a small force Cockburn personally searched for and located the foundry. He reported:

“[G]etting Possession of it [the foundry] without difficulty, commenced instantly its destruction and that of the Guns and other Materials we found there, to complete which occupied us during the Remainder of the Day as there were several Buildings and much complicated heavy Machinery attached to it.—It was known by the names of the Cecil or Principio Foundery, and was one of the most valuable Works of the Kind in America, the Destruction of it therefore at this moment I trust prove of much national Importance.”[6]

Admiral Cockburn’s raid destroyed the foundry, along with 51 artillery pieces and 130 firearms.

In 1836, the foundry was rebuilt and resumed operation. That same year, a mansion was built on the site which still stands today. The Principio Foundry continued production into the early 20th century, finally closing its doors following World War I.

Today, the site is privately owned and preserved. A state historic marker at the foundry sites notes its importance to local history; in Concord Park in nearby Havre de Grace, another historical marker interprets the 1813 raid on Principio Foundry.

1. Stanley L. Quick and Chipp Reid. Lion in the Bay: The British Invasion of the Chesapeake, 1813-1814. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2015.

2. Christopher T. George. Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Books, 2000.

3. John R. Elting. Amateurs, to Arms! A Military History of the War of 1812. New York: Da Capo Books, 1995.

4. Charles P. Neimeyer. The Chesapeake Campaign 1813-1814. Washington, D.C.: Center for Military History, 2014. Digitized. https://history.army.mil/html/books/074/74-5/CMHPub_74-5.pdf

5. "Principio Furnace." Nomination Form, National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Digitized. Accessed December 21, 2020. https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-74.pdf

6. William S. Dudley, editor. The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History. 2 vols. Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 2002. Digitized. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001085723

7. John Chambliss. "Principio Furnace." January 8, 2015. Cecil County Life. Web. Accessed December 21, 2020. https://www.cecilcountylife.com/2015/01/08/57436/principio-furnace