Wooden doors obviously date back to the first days that humanity learned how to hinge a piece of material into an entryway and close it off at will. It’s simply one of the first materials humans built with in general.
However, that doesn’t mean all the other fancy door materials used today are relatively new. In fact, one material has been used since ancient times with very little change in its manufacturing process, and it still makes amazing modern doors.
We’re talking about iron doors.
Iron doors are almost as old as man’s ability to work metal, and they have an extremely rich history that spans millennia.
Today, we’re going to dive into the rich history of iron doors, from their humble beginnings, all the way to the ones you see every day on commercial buildings and residential homes around the world.
Let’s get started.
The First Iron Doors
The first iron doors started to pop up during the Iron Age. This is when humanity went from gathering rudimentary amounts of iron from water sources to make crude metal tools to sourcing it effectively from ore and mastering it at the forge.
Doors weren’t the first items made. Like with most materials upon discovery, iron was first dedicated to making long-lasting tools and weapons. However, as iron production gained steam and became more prevalent, the need for strong, sturdy, doors to protect the most important entryways, such as those found in the homes of nobility, leadership buildings, and more, drove blacksmiths to start producing doors with the material.
The first priorities for such doors were castle entryways, the entrance to city walls, and similar high-priority targets in the event of conflict.
This all occurred roughly 3,200 years ago around Greece and Rome, but it didn’t stay there long. Whether due to cross-border conflicts exposing more northern European nations to the capabilities of iron, or simply the attractiveness of Rome’s expanded architecture that used iron extensively, iron would become a key structural material around Europe within a short period of time. That would be due to our next point.
The Invention of Wrought Iron and Its Rapid Spread
Even though iron doors were around for centuries by the time 200 BC started, they weren’t prevalent. At the start of the Iron Age, iron, and metal in general, was a hard-to-come-by material that had to be put toward priority uses. For the average business owner, and certainly for normal peasants, iron doors were not practical.
Instead, iron was used to make weaponry, fasteners for carpentry, tools, and other crucial items that society relied on to sustain itself and continue growing. Wood was still used for the vast majority of doors out of necessity.
Wrought iron started to change that a bit.
Around 200 BC, China developed methods to produce wrought iron. It wasn’t a material that took off in Asia just yet, but it did reinvent China’s approach to weaponry similarly to how it changed Europe.
Shortly after, the concept of wrought iron traveled to the Mediterranean region where, like cast iron, the Greeks worked on optimizing the concept.
They did, too.
Wrought iron is softer, more malleable, and tougher than cast iron. So, it’s useful for a whole host of reasons other than the staple items it spent hundreds of years almost solely used for. This is due to a lower amount of carbon in the iron after smelting. Usually, there’s less than 0.1% carbon. It’s also purer with a 1-2% slag level.
The higher malleability of wrought iron is what really sets it apart, though. There was no need for a casting mold. The iron was directly worked by hand by a blacksmith. This allowed for more intricate designs, primitive welding techniques, and more, rather than simply pouring iron into one solid piece that was limited by the mold being used.
The Greeks developed a way to make wrought iron indirectly from cast iron via the use of a high-heat blast furnace.
At first, wrought iron stayed in the Mediterranean, and it was used for items such as furniture. However, that furniture spread, and so did the methods used to make wrought iron, and that quickly led to iron becoming much more widespread as a building material.
The widespread development of wrought iron took iron away from solely being used for tools, weapons, and small items, and moved it to the top of the building material world.
Wrought iron was used to make everything from holding cells to torture devices, and yes, it became a much more widespread door material.
Still, it wasn’t something that was found in the average civilian home. While its growth in popularity made it more practical for store owners and important structures, it still wasn’t something that you’d find in a peasant’s home in the middle of England.
In fact, it would take quite some time before iron doors would start to be used heavily in such an environment.
The 1700s and 1800s
Not much changed in terms of using iron as a door material until the 1700s and 1800s. It was a status symbol that wasn’t accessible to the vast majority of average people, but it did quickly become more popular with that demographic. Practically every noble, well-off business and other wealthy individual had an iron door, and more affluent families would have them as luxury expenses occasionally.
However, as we reach the 1700s and early to mid-1800s, iron doors become much more common.
In fact, iron doors pretty much dominated the market, and even what would be considered a middle-class household would have an iron door on the main entryway at a minimum. This was most common in Europe throughout the period, but even American colonists before and after the war brought their love for iron doors with them to the United States, and they were used in the more urban environments commonly; although they still weren’t staples in early American rural areas where most homes were built by hand.
This was easily the norm for 150 years, and it was the norm for far longer in the Mediterranean where iron was first used structurally.
However, iron wouldn’t remain the favored material forever.
Steel existed for quite some time at this point, but it still wasn’t overly common. It was mostly used the same way iron was; for weapons, armor, and tools. Around 1850, steel became a trending material for many of the purposes iron was traditionally used for.
On top of this, Europe’s industrial revolution started in the latter half of the 1700s and made wrought iron easier and faster to produce than ever before.
This did two things.
First, it helped iron doors fade from their spot as status symbols. So, the wealthy were more interested in using steel and less common materials for that purpose.
Then, the surplus generated by the Industrial Revolution reduced the price to the point that iron doors could be used by practically everyone. At least, that was possible across Europe, predominantly in England, until the industrial age would later spread and do the same thing across the world.
1900s: America Sees Affordable, Widespread, Iron Door Usage
Wrought iron in the United States wasn’t too common outside of urban areas during the 1800s. Rural areas were still being settled and developed to an extent, and the Industrial Revolution hit the states slower than it did Europe.
Still, iron remained popular where it was practical to transport and use it for such things as doors, and in the 1900s, the tech boom would see iron doors fly through the roof.
Factories and industrial settings were around during the first industrial revolution in the 1700s, but by the 1900s, most of America’s labor came down to factory work and manufacturing if it wasn’t agricultural labor.
Thus, pretty much all metal products, including iron doors, became exceptionally cheap, easy to mass produce, and more ornate than ever before.
This is when we really started to settle into the manufacturing methods that still guide iron door manufacturing to this day, and the reputation that we give to iron doors really started developing.
You started to see iron doors on tons of common residential homes, most commercial buildings began to adopt them as the middle of the century grew near, and they became staple entryways.
Of course, wood doors were still in use, and in the mid-1900s, steel and aluminum doors became popular. Iron doors still stuck around and continued developing a great reputation, though.
Modern Iron Doors: A Commonplace Entryway with Unmatched Variety
Today, iron doors are more popular than ever. You might not see them in every residential home, but they are accessible to practically everyone.
This is largely due to the streamlined and automated nature of our supply chains and manufacturing methods in the modern era. While the technology used is practically the same in function as it was 100 years ago, it’s essentially on steroids, and it’s possible to make high-quality iron doors in a massive variety of styles and sizes in a fraction of the time that it used to take. The tolerances in manufacturing are also far smaller. Identical doors can be made repeatedly with few errors.
While that can sometimes limit the small imperfections that gave old iron doors unique character, it has streamlined the manufacturing process and made it so you can always get a door that looks exactly like the ad you saw it on.
Modern iron doors are actually used a lot more than they used to be, too. Even when considering the peak popularity of old iron doors during the 18th and 19th centuries.
This is because iron doors are such a great value and reliable in the long term that practically every commercial business uses them. They don’t look like traditional iron doors in most commercial settings, but nearly every black-painted door with glass inserts you see at a business is an iron door.
In the residential space, iron doors tend to either take the place of screen doors as a secondary, yet transparent, layer between the primary entrance and those who come knocking, or they’re exceptionally elegant doors that add a touch of luxury to an otherwise common home. They can also be frequently found on back doors in simpler formats.
Why Have Iron Doors Been Popular Throughout the Ages?
Few forms of technology tend to stick around for thousands of years unless they’re staples of humanity’s daily life. Items such as knives, hammers, nails, and similar things stick around for obvious reasons with minimal evolution, but why has something like an iron door stuck around? After all, there are many different modern door materials available with amazing qualities of their own, and modern manufacturing makes it possible to make beautiful wood doors uniformly.
What’s special about wrought iron?
Well, it’s fairly simple. Nothing really balances benefits vs price as iron does.
A wrought iron door will last multiple lifetimes with minimal maintenance, is almost impossible to damage unless you’re doing it intentionally and with tons of effort, and you can get one very affordably.
On top of those practical benefits, iron doors still carry the charm and sense of luxury that made nobles and kings seek them out back in the iron ages; except, they’re nowhere near as costly, and almost everyone can afford one.
This is why iron doors have been around for roughly 3,200 years, and they are not going anywhere. No matter what new materials are developed, what manufacturing changes are made to make other options more cost-effective, or almost any other factor, iron doors will continue to be major parts of residential and commercial properties for our lifetimes and beyond.
Get Yours Today
If you have never experienced owning an iron door, right now is the best time to do it. An iron door will provide you with secure, reliable, low-maintenance, and luxurious coverage for your home’s entryway, and it’s something that will be enjoyed two generations from now due to its long lifespan.
Check out Wholesale Iron Doors for high-quality single iron doors and double-entry iron doors. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, you can order a custom door that first your needs and the design of your home.
