The Allaire Iron Works was a leading 19th-century

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

marine engineering company based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Founded in 1816 by

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

James P. Allaire James Peter Allaire (July 12, 1785 – May 20, 1858) was a noted master mechanic and steam engine builder, and founder of the Allaire Iron Works (est. 1815), the first marine steam engine company in New York City, and later Howell Works (est. 182 ...

, the Allaire Works was one of the world's first companies dedicated to the construction of

marine steam engine A marine steam engine is a steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. This article deals mainly with marine steam engines of the reciprocating type, which were in use from the inception of the steamboat in the early 19th century to their ...

s, supplying the engines for more than 50% of all the early

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamship ...

s built in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. James P. Allaire retired from the company in 1850 when it was taken over by

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

. During Vanderbilt's ownership, the Allaire Iron Works made a significant contribution to the Union cause during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. Following the war, the Allaire Works, like many other American marine engineering companies, fell on hard times, and in 1869 it was wound up, whereupon its equipment was purchased by John Roach, who also hired its best employees for his own company, the

Morgan Iron Works The Morgan Iron Works was a 19th-century manufacturing plant for marine steam engines located in New York City, United States. Founded as T. F. Secor & Co. in 1838, the plant was later taken over and renamed by one of its original investors, C ...

. Amongst the many notable achievements of the Allaire Works, it supplied the

engine cylinder In a reciprocating engine, the cylinder is the space in which a piston travels. The inner surface of the cylinder is formed from either a thin metallic liner (also called "sleeve") or a surface coating applied to the engine block. A piston is s ...

for the first steamship to cross the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, ''Savannah'', pioneered the use of the

compound engine A compound engine is an engine that has more than one stage for recovering energy from the same working fluid, with the exhaust from the first stage passing through the second stage, and in some cases then on to another subsequent stage or even st ...

in steamships, and built the engines for two winners of the coveted

Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. ...

. The company also supplied the engines for at least 17

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

warships during the

Background

James Peter Allaire founded his first company, a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

, at 466

Cherry Street, New York Cherry Street is a one-way street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It currently has two sections, mostly running along parks, public housing, co-op buildings, tenements, and crossing underneath the Manhattan Bridge. Description ...

, in 1804. In 1807, Allaire received an order from

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

pioneer

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steambo ...

for brass fittings for the ''

North River Steamboat The ''North River Steamboat'' or ''North River'', colloquially known as the ''Clermont'', is widely regarded as the world's first vessel to demonstrate the viability of using steam propulsion for commercial water transportation. Built in 1807, t ...

'', the world's first commercially successful steam-powered vessel. Allaire and Fulton struck up a friendship, and Allaire provided fittings for later vessels built by Fulton.Swann, p. 5. Steam packet Chancellor Livingston (entering the harbour of Newport) PY0156

Steam packet Chancellor Livingston (entering the harbour of Newport) PY0156

Following Fulton's death in 1815, Allaire leased his plant and equipment from the Fulton and Livingstone families, and entered a partnership with Fulton's chief engineer, Charles Stoudinger. Allaire and Stoudinger built the engine and boiler for the last steamboat contracted for by the Fulton shop, the ''Chancellor Livingstone'', which was completed about a year later. Stoudinger himself died shortly after completion of ''Chancellor Livingstone'', after which Allaire decided to move Fulton's equipment from its location in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

to his brassworks at Cherry St., New York. With the consolidation of his business at the Cherry St. plant, Allaire renamed it the Allaire Iron Works.Dayton, Chapter 19.

Allaire ownership, 1816-1850

Early period, 1816-1822

In 1817, the Allaire Iron Works supplied the engine cylinder for ''Savannah'', the first steamship to make a transatlantic crossing. The cylinder, one of the largest then built, had a diameter of 40 inches, while the piston had a stroke of 5 feet. ''Savannah'' was not a commercial success, and following her return voyage from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, her engine was removed and sold to Allaire. In 1819, the Allaire Works supplied the engine for ''Robert Fulton'', the first steamship to enter service along the United States coastline (as opposed to working the inland waterways). This engine had a cylinder and a stroke of 5 feet. ''Robert Fulton'' helped to demonstrate that steamships were capable of reliable seagoing service. Other engines built in this period by the Allaire Works include those for ''United States''—a 140-foot steamer said to be the first American steamboat to issue tickets (rather than "way-bills") to passengersMorrison, p. 341.—and for ''James Kent'', ''North Carolina'', ''South Carolina'' and other

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

steamers.Dayton, Chapter 19.

Howell Works

As Allaire's business grew, he found it increasingly difficult to source adequate amounts of quality

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with ...

from which to manufacture his engines. The best quality pig iron was imported from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, but high

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

s made it uneconomic to use. The pig iron industry in the United States was at this time still in its infancy, and producing neither the quality nor quantity of pig iron required.Swann pp. 5-7 The only solution was for Allaire to become a manufacturer of pig iron himself. In 1822, in response to a recommendation from a friend, Allaire purchased of land in

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located on the coast of central New Jersey. The county is part of the New York metropolitan area and is situated along the northern half of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population wa ...

, which contained a furnace used for manufacturing pig iron from the natural resource of

bog iron Bog iron is a form of impure iron deposit that develops in bogs or swamps by the chemical or biochemical oxidation Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. O ...

. Allaire renamed the furnace the

Howell Works Howell Works (later the Howell Works Company) was a bog iron-based production facility for pig iron which was established in New Jersey in the early 19th century by United States, American engineer and philanthropist James P. Allaire. It is notable ...

, and over the next 20 years used it to source most of his pig iron, during which time Howell Works grew to be a substantial and largely self-sufficient community, complete with its own church, school,

company store A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared g ...

and farmland.

Pioneering compound engines, 1820s

In 1824, the Allaire Works built the engine for the steamboat , the first steam vessel in the world fitted with a

. The high-pressure cylinder was 12 inches in diameter and the low-pressure cylinder 24 inches, with both having a stroke of 4 feet. In the same year, the Allaire Works also supplied a compound engine for a 200-ton towboat called ''Post Boy'', and another for a small steamer, ''Linnaeus''. Other vessels equipped with compound engines from the Allaire Works to 1828 included ''Sun'', ''Commerce'', ''Swiftsure'' and ''Pilot Boy''. The Allaire Works built compound engines decades before the advantages of such engines became widely recognized in the shipbuilding industry.

Growth and financial problems, 1830s-1850

In the 1830s, the Allaire business empire reached the peak of its expansion. The Howell Works in New Jersey was producing a surplus of pig iron, enabling Allaire to diversify into the manufacture of household goods in addition to his production of marine engines in New York. Ships supplied with Allaire-built engines in this period included ''Frank'', ''New Haven'', ''Rhode Island'' and ''Massachusetts''. ''Massachusetts'', then the largest ship operating on

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

, was driven by a pair of beam engines. Allaire had also accumulated considerable interest in steamships by this time. In 1836, a ship in which Allaire was part-owner, ''William Gibbons'', ran aground and was destroyed. In the same year, the Howell Works furnace blew out and production there temporarily ceased. The following year, the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...

plunged America into a severe recession, and later that year, the steamboat ''Home'', wholly owned by Allaire and largely uninsured, sank with the loss of 100 lives, damaging Allaire's reputation and leaving him short of capital. Allaire had up until this point in his career been able to borrow to meet cash shortfalls, but with the recession affecting demand for his products, he was obliged to look elsewhere for working capital. In 1842, he sold shares in the Allaire Iron Works, which was incorporated for the sum of $300,000. Shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt and Allaire's brother-in-law John Haggerty were thus able to eventually gain a controlling interest in the company.James P. Allaire
, Allaire Village website. With the capital infusion from incorporation, the Allaire Iron Works remained productive through the 1840s. In this period, engines were supplied for steamboats such as ''Isaac Newton'' in 1846, ''C. Vanderbilt'' in 1847, and ''Commodore'' in 1848 (the names for the latter two reflecting Vanderbilt's growing influence in the company). Engines were also supplied for the sister ships ''Bay State'' and ''Empire State'' in 1846–47, the former of which was the fastest boat on Long Island Sound for some years. In 1849–50, the Allaire Works supplied the engines for two of the original four

Collins Line The Collins Line was the common name for the American shipping company started by Israel Collins and then built up by his son Edward Knight Collins, formally called the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company. Under Edward Col ...

steamers, and . The engines for these two vessels were of the side-lever type, with ''Pacific'' having a 95-inch cylinder and 9-foot stroke, and ''Baltic'' a 96-inch cylinder and 10 foot stroke. Both ships were to become Blue Riband winners by setting speed records for transatlantic crossings.

Vanderbilt ownership, 1850-1869

Vanderbilt takeover

In 1850, James P. Allaire retired from the Presidency of the Allaire Iron Works—according to one report, through the machinations of his brother-in-law John Haggerty, who may have been scandalized by the former's marriage to a young woman 26 years his junior in 1846. Cornelius Vanderbilt subsequently gained control of the company, appointing

T. F. Secor Theodosius Fowler Secor (March 22, 1808April 29, 1901) was an American marine engineer. Secor co-founded T. F. Secor & Co. in New York in 1838 (better known by its later name, the Morgan Iron Works), which was one of the leading American marine ...

, former proprietor of T. F. Secor & Co., as its manager. After the Vanderbilt takeover, an increasing percentage of the company's contracts came from Vanderbilt himself, who from this point had most of his new steamboats and steamships engined there, just as most of his shipbuilding contracts went to the same firm, that of his trusted nephew, Jeremiah Simonson. Vanderbilt brought his own ideas to the field of marine steam engineering. Defying the prevailing wisdom, he began powering oceangoing steamships with American walking beam engines, believing that their relative lightness of construction, economy of operation and low maintenance requirements made them preferable to the low center-of-gravity, but more complex, British-designed side-lever and oscillating types.Stiles, pp. 199-200. Other American marine engine manufacturers quickly followed his example, and walking beams became the preferred engine type for oceangoing American sidewheel steamships until the introduction of the much more economical surface condensing compound engine in the early 1870s. During the 1850s, the Allaire Works supplied engines to such notable ships as ''Buckeye State'' in 1850—only the second ship on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

to be fitted with a compound engine—and the 3,360-ton ''Vanderbilt'', whose twin 90-inch cylinder beam engines were believed to make her the fastest oceangoing ship operating from New York upon launch in 1856. Other ships fitted with Allaire powerplants in this period include ''North Star'' (1853), a transatlantic ocean liner, ''St. Lawrence'' (1853), built for operation on the Great Lakes, and the Long Island Sound steamer ''Plymouth Rock'' (1854).

American Civil War

The Allaire Iron Works made a substantial contribution to the Union cause during the American Civil War, providing the engines for at least seven warships, while at least another ten merchant ships with Allaire engines were purchased or chartered by the U.S. Navy and converted into warships. In 1861, the Allaire Works built the engines for two of the 700 ton or "90-day"

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

s, and . The following year, the company supplied the engines for the 1,533-ton screw steamer USS ''Lackawanna'', and for two of the 1,173-ton ''Sassacus'' class double-ended sidewheel gunboats, and . In 1864, the Allaire Works supplied two 100-inch cylinder, 4-foot stroke vibrating-lever engines for the 4,912-ton monitor ; however delays in supply of the ship's 20-inch Dahlgren smoothbore cannon prevented the vessel from seeing wartime service. The Allaire Works also supplied the engines in 1864 for the 4,215-ton ''Wampanoag'' class screw sloop . Intended to be a very fast ship, ''Madawaska'' was fitted with experimental vibrating-lever engines designed by Navy architect

John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive ''Novelty'', which co ...

. The engines proved a failure, delivering a cruising speed of only 12.73 knots, well under the specified speed of 15 knots, and they were later replaced with a more conventional power plant. In addition to the engines directly contracted for, the Navy also requisitioned a number of merchant steamships powered by Allaire engines and converted them into warships. Some of these vessels had been built prior to the war, while others were built during the war and requisitioned by the Navy as they entered service. The largest and most impressive of these ships was the 3,360-ton oceangoing sidewheel steamer ''Vanderbilt'', launched in 1856, and gifted to the U.S. Navy by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1862. With her 14 knot speed and long operational range, ''Vanderbilt'' was an ideal candidate for a pursuit ship, and after being fitted out with a formidable battery of cannon, the newly commissioned was employed in a year-long hunt for the notorious Confederate raider CSS ''Alabama'', but without success. Other Allaire powered ships commissioned by the Navy included , , , , and , all built before the war, and and the ferries and , built during the war. The Allaire Works also continued to produce engines for commercial vessels during the conflict, such as ''City of New London'', built in 1863, and ''St. John'', which was built in 1864 and used as a hospital ship.

Postwar slump and closure

Shortly after the end of hostilities, the U.S. government dumped more than a million tons of unwanted shipping onto the market, driving down prices and depriving the shipbuilding industry of new orders. The slump lasted several years, and many ship and marine engine builders were driven to bankruptcy in this period.Swann, p. 23. By 1867, the Allaire Iron Works had only one engine and one boiler on its books. The company soldiered on until 1869 when Cornelius Vanderbilt sold its plant and equipment at auction, which were bought by John Roach at scrap metal prices. Vanderbilt was wealthy enough to survive the slump, but had apparently decided to move his assets into railroads by this time. After the auction, the property of the Allaire Works was divided into a tombstone factory and horse stables.Swann, p. 26. Roach, one of the few marine entrepreneurs to survive and prosper in the postwar period, took the best of the Allaire Works tools, along with its best former workers, and employed them at his newly acquired plant on the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

, the

Production, 1816-1867

Merchant ships

The following table lists merchant ships with engines supplied by the Allaire Iron Works from the company's inception in 1816 until its closure in 1867. Names in small print preceded or followed by an arrow in the "Name" column indicate that the engine either originated from or was later installed in the ship so named. This is an incomplete list. ''Legend: Built=year built; Ton.=gross tonnage; Deployment=original location of operation. Where the original deployment is not known, the location is followed by a number, which represents the last two digits of the year in which the vessel is known to have operated at the given location; No.=number of engines; Cyl.=diameter of engine cylinder(s) in inches; Str.=engine stroke in feet; Type=engine type. Types of engine include: AC=annular compound; B=beam; C=compound; CB=compound beam; C=crosshead. Crosshead engines built by this company are almost certainly all of the American "square" type, rather than the Steeple type; DA=direct-acting; DS=double screw; GS=geared screw; HBA=horizontal back-acting; I=inclined; O=oscillating; S=screw; St=steeple; SL=side-lever; V=vertical; VB=vertical beam; VL=vibrating-lever.''

Warships

The following table lists warships powered by Allaire Iron Works engines. This list is confined to vessels that were designed and built as warships, and does not include merchant ships commissioned into the Navy. ''Legend: Type=ship type. Types include - G=gunboat; SS=screw sloop; DEG=double-ended gunboat; M=monitor; SF=screw frigate. Built=Year of ship launch, or completion where launch date is unknown; Builder=Name of ship builder; Disp.=displacement in tons; No.=number of engines; Cyl.=diameter of engine cylinder(s) in inches; Str.=engine stroke in feet; Type=engine type. Types of engine include: DA=direct acting; DS=double screw; HBA=horizontal back-acting; I=inverted; S=screw; VL=vibrating-lever. See

for explanation of various engine types.

Footnotes

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Bauer, Karl Jack and Roberts, Stephen S. (1991): ''Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants'', Greenwood Publishing Group, . * Baughman, James P. (1968): ''Charles Morgan and the Development of Southern Transportation'', pp. 242-245, Vanderbilt University Press. * Emmons, Lieut. George F., USN (1853): ''The Navy Of The United States, From The Commencement, 1775 To 1853'', Gideon & Co., Washington. *Dayton, Fred Erving (1925): ''Steamboat Days'', Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, reproduced in part
here
* Frazer, John F. (ed.) (1859): ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'', pp. 62, 345-46, 3rd Series, Volume 38, Whole No. Volume 68, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. * Frazer, John F. (ed.) (1861): ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'', Volume 71, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. * Heyl, Erik (1953–67): ''Early American Steamers'', Volumes 1-5, Erik Heyl, Buffalo, New York. * Main, Thomas (1893): ''The Progress of Marine Engineering, From the time of Watt until the present day'', The Trade Publishing Co., New York. *Morrison, John Harrison: ''History Of American Steam Navigation'' reprinted in 2008 by READ BOOKS, . * Morrison, John Harrison (1909): ''History of New York Shipyards'', Wm. F. Sametz & Co., New York. * * Stanton, Samuel Ward (1859): ''American Steam Vessels'', Smith & Stanton, New York. *Swann, Leonard Alexander Jr. (1965): ''John Roach, Maritime Entrepreneur: the Years as Naval Contractor 1862–1886'' — United States Naval Institute (reprinted 1980 by Ayer Publishing, {{ISBN, 978-0-405-13078-6). * U.S. Treasury Department (1838): "Steam Engines", Document No. 21, U.S. Treasury Department. American companies established in 1816 Defunct marine engineering companies of New York City 1816 establishments in New York (state)