The First Steam Engine in America

In September, 1753, the little snow Irene arrived in New York after a passage of twelve weeks from London with a cargo that included the first Newcomen or Cornish "fire engine" to reach America. Accompanied by a young British engineer, Josiah Hornblower, the primitive steam engine was destined for the famous copper mine owned by Colonel John Schuyler at Second River (now North Arlington) in New Jersey, where it was to be employed in pumping the deep shafts free of water.