Found an interesting clip that you may find interesting.
THE BEGINNING OF IRON MAKING IN AMERICA.
It is certain that at Lynn, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, was cast, in the year 1645, the first piece of hollow ware made in America - "a small iron pot capable of containing about one quart." This pioneer of all American-made castings was in existence in 1844, but recent efforts to ascertain its whereabouts have been unsuccessful. The works at Lynn appear to have been prosperous for a number of years ; but after a time they became unpopular, owing to the flowage of lands by their dam, and the great destruction of timber for fuel.
The Rev. William Hubbard, writing in 1677, says they were "strenuously carried on for some time, but at length, instead of drawing out bars of iron for the country's use, there was hammered out nothing but contentions and lawsuits."
After the establishment of the first successful "furnace" and "foundry," at Lynn, works for the manufacture of iron were
erected in other parts of New England, and thence the business spread into New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
During the " French War" (1755), there was a number of furnaces in operation, at which "cannon, bombs, and bullets" were made in great quantity, and many of these iron works furnished similar supplies to the Continental
army during the Revolution.
