While the existence of local ore was well known and various petitions had been made for the right to erect a foundry, it was not until 1801 that Wallis Sunderlin, a Vermont founderer, established the first iron works in Upper Canada at Furnace Falls. The works, which included both a furnace for the production of cast iron and a forge for the manufacture of wrought iron, were operated with limited success by Sunderlin and his associates until destroyed by fire in 1811. Attempts in 1815-16 to re-establish the works to supply the Kingston dockyard were ended with the agreement to limit armaments on the Great Lakes.