In 1819, a factory was set up at the confluence of the Rongeant and Marne rivers. Mr Guénard de la Tour had a blast furnace built there in 1837, which cast up to 1,000 tonnes of cast iron a year. Shut down shortly after 1880, it was taken over by the Capitain-Gény family, who were the ironmasters at Bussy, to store the models they had bought from the Denonvilliers art foundry (Sermaize-sur-Saulx), hence its nickname "Paradise". The models were moved to the Conservatoire des arts de la métallurgie (https://www.bienvenue-hautemarne.fr/sit/dommartin-le-franc-conservatoire-des-arts-de-la-metallurgie-pcucha051v50htza/) in 1994, shortly before the main building was demolished.
Threatened by a demolition project, the vast "Le Paradis" building and some adjoining workers' housing have been saved, with the recent restoration of the roof. The building cannot be visited.
Usine du Rongeant - Le Paradis
