West Point Foundry

The West Point Foundry was an American ironworking and machine shop concern at Cold Spring, New York, on the east bank of the Hudson River opposite the United States Military Academy at West Point. It began operation in 1817 after the War of 1812, when the federal government wanted domestic foundries to produce artillery, and it stayed in business until about 1911. It is best known for the Parrott rifle and other munitions made during the Civil War, but it also cast iron fittings and water pipe for civilian use and built some of the earliest steam locomotives in the United States, among them the Best Friend of Charleston for the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road in 1830, the West Point and the DeWitt Clinton. In 1843 it also built the revenue cutter Spencer, described as the first iron ship built in the United States. Falling demand for cast iron after the Civil War pushed it into receivership in 1884 and bankruptcy in 1889. The site is now a preserve owned by Scenic Hudson and a National Historic Landmark. This make covers the locomotives and other vehicles built under the foundry name.