The Thomas Iron Company property was the site of one of the first commercially successful anthracite-powered iron-making operations in North America. All that now remains is a massive concrete structure, decaying in the woods between the Ironton Rail Trail and the Lehigh River. David Thomas was a Welsh immigrant who came to Catasauqua in the 1830s. Not long after, he started the Lehigh Crane Iron Company. In the 1850s, he expanded his company to include both sides of the Lehigh River. This expansion marked the beginning of the Thomas Iron…
