Brooke Mansion (Birdsboro, Pennsylvania)  The Edward Brooke II Mansion (1887–88), also known as "Brookeholm," is a Queen Anne country house at 301 Washington Street in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. Designed by architect Frank Furness and completed in 1888, it was Edward Brooke II's wedding present to his bride, Anne Louise Clingan. Five years later, Edward II himself designed a major addition to the mansion. Following their parents' deaths, the Brooke children sold the property in the 1940s. The mansion served as a nursing home for thirty years, and recently as a bed and breakfast. The property spent fourteen years on and off the real estate market, before being sold at auction on September 29, 2018, for $572,000. Birdsboro was named for ironmaker William Bird, who established a forge near the mouth of Hay Creek, about 1740. In 1771, his son Marcus founded Hopewell Furnace, on Hay Creek about five miles upstream. By the time of the Revolutionary War, Marcus Bird was the largest American producer of iron. He cast iron cannon, shot and shell for the Continental Army, and served in the Pennsylvania Militia. In the post-war depression he lost both forges to creditors in 1788. The creditors hired John Louis Barde to operate the forges, and Barde purchased the Birdsboro forge in 1796. He hired Matthew Brooke III to assist him, and after Barde's 1799 death Matthew continued to operate the forges for Barde's widow. In 1800, Matthew's father and uncles formed Brooke & Buckley and bought the Hopewell forge, with Matthew's brother Clement in charge. In 1805, at age 43, Matthew married Barde's 17-year-old daughter Elizabeth. Matthew and Elizabeth Brooke had five children, three of whom lived to adulthood: Edward (1816–1878); George (1818–1912); and Elizabeth Mary (1825–1870). Matthew died in 1827 and Elizabeth in 1828, leaving their orphaned children under the guardianship of Matthew's brother Clement. The Birdsboro forge was leased out to Brooke & Buckley until Edward and George attained their majorities. The Schuylkill Canal (completed 1825) passed through Birdsboro and, prior to railroads, was the primary means of transporting anthracite coal to Philadelphia and elsewhere. The young brothers took charge of the business in 1837, and diversified its holdings. They modernized the furnaces to run on anthracite (instead of charcoal), expanded their businesses, and consolidated them in 1867 as the Birdsboro Iron Forge Company.