The Burden Iron Works Museum
Inside the Burden Iron Works Museum, Troy, NY
The Burden Iron Works Museum is located in the former Burden Iron Co. office building in South Troy. This building, constructed 1881-1882, once served as the headquarters of a major iron mill complex that stretched a mile along the Hudson River and employed nearly 2,000 men at its peak. Today it is virtually the only building left with a link to Troy’s past as a major iron center. Click Here for the Burden's Office Building
The museum has extensive displays of artifacts connected with the region’s industrial past. The two largest artifacts are the ladle car displayed outside the building and the Corliss steam engine inside. Other interesting displays cover:
• Iron. Artifacts tell the story of Henry Burden and his invention of the machine-made horseshoe, including a working diorama of his mill driven by the world’s most powerful water wheel.
• Bells. The Troy area cast more bells than any other part of the US.
• Cast Iron Stoves. Troy was once known as the “stove capital of world.”
• Precision Instruments. Troy was a center for making surveying instruments, and later moved into different kinds of scientific instruments. The ingenious Ames Dividing Engine was developed to accurately engrave the degrees of a circle on compasses.
• USS Monitor. Troy iron mills (and their owners) played an important role in the construction of the Union Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.
• Textiles. The detachable collar and cuff was invented in Troy, and the textile industry in Troy survived well into the twentieth century.
• Rototillers. The rototiller was invented in Switzerland, and after coming to the United States in 1930 under the trademark “Rototiller,” moved to Troy in 1938 and was perfected as the “Troy-Bilt” trademark and produced by Garden-Way in the Lansingburgh section of the city, with the first batch of the famous A1 model tillers produced here in 1938.
The Burden Iron Works Museum, Troy New York after 2023 renovations
The Burden Iron Works Museum, Troy, NY
The Museum is CLOSED for Winter Renovations.
You may contact Dr. Susan M. Ouellette, Executive Director at (518)274-5267 or email to info@hudsonmohawkgateway.org
Please call with any questions or schedule a guided tour by appointment only.