Questions / Histories     

Hunting for Hecla – the story of Hecla Iron Works

In the last half of the 19th Century, two young men left Scandinavia for the land of opportunity. Norwegian Carl Michael Eger and Dane Niels Poulson met in a common fascination for the technological possibilities that drove the development of American cities at the time, and in 1876 they founded Hecla Iron Works, which would grow to make a mark on several cities, including New York.
Jan Carlsen and Are Carlsen have hunted for Hecla and what’s left of its products through many years.

By Jan Carlsen (text) and Are Carlsen (photo)
Published 14 Nov, 2014
 
Williamsburg Bridge. Hecla Iron Works, founded by Carl Michael Eger and Niels Poulson, produced the light fittings that still light the monumental span.

Williamsburg Bridge. Hecla Iron Works, founded by Carl Michael Eger and Niels Poulson, produced the light fittings that still light the monumental span.

Entrance to Wall Street subway station. Hecla Iron Works produced the entrance kiosks for 133 of the original subway stations.

From Wall Street Station. Hecla’s signature.

New York Stock Exchange, 1903. Hecla produced the windows of the world famous main Wall Street facade.

Catalogue from Hecla Iron Works.

From Avery Library, Columbia University, NY. Photo: Are Carlsen

Catalogue from Hecla Iron Works.

Carl M. Eger (1843-1916).

Niels Poulson (1843-1911)

Sculpture by H. Stuetzer, produced by Hecla and donated by Eger to a park in Oslo.

Photo: Nasjonalbiblioteket/Wikipedia

Hecla’s design studio in the Williamsburg building.

Hecla’s own administration building in Williamsburg, completed in 1897. The building was technically way ahead of its time, and in 2004 New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission added it to its register of protected buildings.

Hecla’s administration building. Metalwork details, produced by Hecla.

Hecla’s administration building. Metalwork details, produced by Hecla.

Hecla’s administration building in Williamsburg, 1897. The iron facade is just a few centimetres thick, and heralds the later development of one of the characteristic elements of modernism: the curtain wall facade.

The main concourse of New York’s Grand Central Terminal. Hecla produced both the tall windows and the chandeliers.

Grand Central Terminal. Hecla also produced the iconic clock in the centre of the concourse.

Lullwater Bridge, pedestrian bridge in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

Entrance to Borough Hall Station in Brooklyn.

Entrance to Astor Place Subway Station on Manhattan.

The sidewalk clock on Fifth Avenue at Madison Square Park was produced by Hecla in 1909. The Flatiron Building in the background.

In the second half of the 19th century, Carl Michael Eger from Norway and Niels Poulson from Denmark emigrated to America. The two Scandinavians founded Hecla Iron Works, a metal manufacturing company who produced elevator cars, marquees, stairs, railings, grilles, balconies, windows, columns and sculptural work. They contributed orna-mental ironwork to several New York City Designated Landmarks: the American Surety Building, New York Life Insurance Company Building, B. Altman & Co. Department Store, Macombs Dam Bridge, 155th Street Viaduct, Grand Central Terminal, Dakota Apartments, American Fine Art Society, New York Stock Exchange, St. Regis Hotel at Fifth Avenue and many others.

They made the stairs at the top of the Statue of Liberty and delivered elevator cars, windows and banisters for the Flatiron Building. Hecla also produced the 133 original entry kiosks for the IRT subway.

Part of the reason for their great success, writes Jan Carlsen, was due to their being one of the first American iron foundries with a licence to use the newly invented Bower-Barff-process – a treatment which minimized corrosion and made the iron more suited for buildings. Eventually the fashion for ornamental ironwork ceded to the hegemony of simple modernist expression, and industry moved on… But Eger and Poulson’s factory in Williamsburg is now a New York City Landmark.

Facts:

Jan Carlsen is an architect MNAL and a writer. Are Carlsen is a freelance photographer.