Charcoal Making Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site ( ...
Fueling the Furnace. Using charcoal to make iron is a process that came to the colonies from England. In the 1770s, when Hopewell Furnace first began making iron, charcoal was the only fuel available. The 19th century, however, brought experiments in the process through the use of hard anthracite coal in place of the softer charcoal.