Use
Natural gas was first used in the United States as a fuel source in the 1820s when William A. Hart drilled a natural gas well and piped gas to nearby homes and businesses in Freedonia, New York. Later in the 1800s, when natural gas became more prevalent, natural gas-powered appliances, like irons, followed.
There were originally two types of natural gas irons, one with a fixed internal burner and one with a separate jet/burner to heat the iron. The first natural gas iron had a separate jet/burner and was patented by Galen B. McClain of Bath, Maine, in April of 1857. In November of 1856, James Goodin Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio, patented an iron using a flexible tube running between the iron and the gas outlet in the wall.
