Phoenixville's riverfront was occupied by industry that connected to Philadelphia and the nation by water and, later, by rail. The foundry building was the centerpiece of Phoenix Iron Company, the enterprise that dominated Phoenixville's economy from the eighteenth to the late twentieth centuries. Its tall stone walls are crowned by pyramidal roofs with attic glazing, while Phoenix steel elements span the galleries and carry the roofing. Samuel Reeves of the Phoenix Iron Company patented a bolted-together column of cast elements that was used across the nation including the Brooklyn Bridge, and even the Eiffel Tower. Columns of this type support this foundry building's roof.