Constructed between 1881 and 1882 in the Romanesque Revival style, the iron works site once housed the Burden Water Wheel, the most powerful vertical water wheel in history. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an archaeological site in 1977.
 

Today, the former office of the Burden Iron Works contains an extensive exhibit on Troy’s industrial history throughout the 19th century, when factories produced parts of the U.S.S. Monitor, the replacement for the Liberty Bell, along with some of the world’s most innovative products, including stoves, mass-produced horseshoes and railroad spikes, detachable shirt collars, fire hydrants, and surveying equipment. Much of the cutting-edge technology of the day was developed at the city’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
 

Burden Iron Works Museum is open to the public most weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment; the museum, however, does recommend calling first to ensure access to the site is available.