IRONVILLE
BIRTHPLACE OF THE
ELECTRICAL AGE
ALLEN PENFIELD, TIMOTHY TAFT AND
ALLEN P. HARWOOD PIONEERED THE
FIRST INDUSTRIAL USE OF ELECTRICITY
IN THEIR IRON WORKS BELOW THE
POND SOUTH OF THIS MARKER.
THOMAS DAVENPORT, THE BLACKSMITH
OF BRANDON, VERMONT, IN 1833
BOUGHT THE ELCTRO-MAGNET USED
IN THERI FORGE WHICH LED TO HIS
INVENTION OF THE ELECTRIC MOTOR.
THIS MARKER IS PRESENTED BY DESCENDEANTS OF
PENFIELD AND HARWOOD, RUTH HARWOOD SHATTUCK
AND ANN HARWOOD ORBISON.
1959
The Penfield Homestead Museum
wrote a grant to the Pomeroy Foundation
and received funding to erect a sign
recognizing the Ironville Historic District
and its inclusion on the National Register
of Historic Places in 1974.
