Berks Places is a recurring feature that will focus on small villages and census-designated locations throughout the county. History, nostalgia and local sounds will reveal the quaint nooks and crannies of our region. The online version of the article is accompanied by other historical photos.
The village of Joanna, an unincorporated person in Caernarfon, is about 2 miles from the Joanna's Melting Pot in Robertson. The company is the origin of the small village.
"In 1789, Samuel Potts, half the owner of the Warwick Furnace in Chester County, purchased a large piece of land at the source of Hay Creek on the southern coast of Robertson Township," local historian George W. George M. Meiser IX said the week in an email last year. "The Joanna charcoal stove here was built in 1790 and named after his wife Joanna. In 1796, the property was sold to John Smith and two colleagues who continued to make iron until Levi B. Smith in 1833. And William Darling acquired this property and continued to manufacture iron and forming furnaces."
According to Berks County’s deed records, the Hay Creek Valley Historical Society purchased 13.8 acres of Joanna Furnace property from Bethlehem Mining Company for $50,000 on June 4, 1979. The association has turned it into a historic tourist attraction, hosting multiple community festivals throughout the year, featuring reappearances of the period.
Located in the hearth of the historic Joanna Furnace in Robertson Township, it is the lining of the blast furnace.
Courtesy of Hay Creek Valley Historical Society
Ella Jane Smith, wife of the last blacksmith in the historic Joanna Forge in Robertsontown. (Provided by the Haixi Valley Historical Association)
Located in the hearth of the historic Joanna Furnace in Robertson Township, it is the lining of the blast furnace.
Courtesy of Hay Creek Valley Historical Society
Mabel’s open-fire soup can be taken out at the 44th Annual Hay Creek Festival in Robertsontown’s historic Joanna Furnace on Saturdays and Sundays.
Ben Hasty-Reading Eagle
On the evening of Friday, December 2, 2011, at the historic Joanna Melting Pot in Robertson Township, attending Joanna’s Christmas event. The venue was lit up and brightly lit.
Celebrate Christmas at Joanna's Furnace at the historic site of Robertson Township. (Submit photos)
Jeff Doelp-For MediaNews Group
Hundreds of tourists participated in the 2019 Hay Creek Apple Festival in Joanna Furnace in Robeson Township.
Courtesy of Hay Creek Valley Historic Association
This photo from the early 1900s is the only known photo of the Joanna Furnace wheel manufacturer. (Provided by the Haixi Valley Historical Association)
"From December 29, 1830 to September 5, 1890, the Joanna Furnace post office served the area," Meizer said. “At that time, the office moved from the store by the furnace to Joanna’s grocery store and reopened in Joanna’s name on September 5, 1890. It closed on August 28, 1964. Its postcode was 19529.
"Joanna is an endless settlement with no fixed boundaries. It includes the old melting pot complex, shops and Joanna at the RR intersection, and not far from the Joanna Heights where the former campsite is located."
The campsite was established by the priest Hiram U. Sebring in the late 1800s. According to the deed records, he sold the 8 acres of land to the Joanna Highland Camp Conference Association on March 19, 1898. Based on Volume 23 of the "Past Scenes" series written by Meizer and his wife Gloria Jean, Sebrin, who manages the camp, built 250 summer cottages and a 25-room hut there. Mansion for him and visiting missionaries to live in.
The campground and mansion are located at 4217 Haixi Road, Robertson Township.
For a while, this mansion was the location of the Living Water Fellowship Center, which was a non-denominational church.
Another major landmark in the area is the former Jones Mine. From the colonial era to 1892, it provided iron ore. According to Mezes, these mines have long been owned by the Potts and Rutter families and supplied the Rebecca, Warwick and Joanna furnaces. Copper was also mined here from 1806 until its closure in 1892.
Courtesy of George M. Meiser IX
The Jones Mine in the small village of Joanna in Caernarfon in 1880, as seen by George M. Meizer IX and Gloria Jean Meizer in the fifth volume of "Passing Scenes". Mezes' book says that iron ore was produced at the mine from the colonial era to January 1892. The book further pointed out that the nearby Grace Mine was in operation from the early 1950s to 1977. (Courtesy of George M. Meiser IX)
Courtesy of George M. Meiser IX
The Jones Mine in Joanna, Caernarfon, has long been owned by Potts and Rutter family members and supplied iron ore Gloria to the Rebecca, Warwick and Joanna furnaces according to volume 5 of George M. Meiser IX's "The Passing Scene" Jean Meiser. (Courtesy of George M. Meiser IX)
From the 1950s to 1977, some of the same iron deposits were mined at the nearby Grace Mine.
A railway station was established in Joanna Village in 1885, which is an important station on the Wilmington and Northern Railway. In 1900, it was leased to the Philadelphia and Reading (P&R) Railroad Company and operated until around 1953. According to Mezes, all mail between Joanna and Morgantown passes through the warehouse.
In 1963, the station was acquired by Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Railroad and moved to Kempton. It still exists today.
The original Joanna warehouse is now part of the parking lot of the new Joanna General Store, a convenience store located at 1102 Elverson Road in Caernarfon, which includes a BP gas station.
George Meiser said that the former Joanna Heights is very popular and it has its own train station, even though it is just over a mile away from Joanna Station.
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