Credit: Mathews, Alfred and Hungerford A., History of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon. Philadelphia, 1884
The ironmaster who perfected the process of making iron with anthracite coal, David Thomas brought his knowledge of "hot-blast" furnace construction from Wales to Pennsylvania, where he oversaw development of the first sustained commercial anthracite furnace in the United States. Thomas directed the Crane Iron Works, 1839-1855.
