The Ogden family built a blast furnace in 1742 to smelt the local high-quality magnetite ore, and by 1765 Peter Hasenclever made Ringwood the center of his ironmaking empire. He imported more than 500 workers from Germany and England and began similar ironmaking plantations at nearby Long Pond Ironworks and Charlottesburg. The Ringwood plantation included an iron furnace, 3 forge operations, a grist mill, saw mill, worker\'s houses, stores and farms. Martin J. Ryerson (founder of Ryerson Steel Company) purchased the ironworks and began building the Manor House in 1807 while operating the iron mines and forges on the property. The last of the iron mines closed in 1950.

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