Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Forges de Baudin, located on horseback on Sellières and Toulouse-le-Château in the Jura, came into being in 1794 with the transfer of a blast furnace from Frontenay to the medieval mill of Baudin, acquired as national property by Claude-Joseph Morel and Claude Jobez. This site, although named "Forges", actually functioned as a foundry specialized in casting cast iron to manufacture utility objects and decorative elements. Franche-Comté accounted for 17% of national cast iron production in the 18th century.

The 19th century marked the climax of the site: employing more than 200 workers in 1850, it produced 1,500 tons of melt annually and modernized with a steam machine (1828) and workers' housing. Under the impetus of Edmond Monnier, inspired by fourierism, an avant-garde social model emerges: free housing, heating, medical care, compulsory school and cooperative with local currency. The neogothic chapel (1853-1854) and the patronal castle (1865) symbolize this prosperity.

The metallurgical crisis of the 1860s forced the shutdown of the blast furnace, but the factory turned to renowned manufactured products: enamelled stoves (including miniatures "Baby Baudin"), public fountains (like the swan of Lons-le-Saunier), and artistic pieces like the Norman Knight of the Normandy ship. Despite commercial efforts in the 20th century, the factory closed in 1959 due to a lack of adaptation to modern methods. Some of the buildings, threatened, were razed in 1975.

Classified Historic Monuments in 1991 and 1993, the remains (worker housing, chapel, castle) are now being rehabilitated. A temporary museum (2017-2018) gave way to a reception hall project inaugurated in 2024, supported by the Lotto du Patrimoine. The family archives (60 ml, 1686-1961), transmitted to the Jura department archives by Viviane de Labriffe, document this unique industrial and social saga.

The dynaste des Jobez-Monnier, owners throughout the whole activity, embodies this story: Claude-Étienne Jobez (founder, MP in 1815), Étienne Monnier (modernizer), Edmond Monnier (social television), André Monnier (specialization in enamelled cast iron), and Laurent Monnier (artistic frescoes, such as Normandy). Their legacy continues through the Jurassian fountains and archives, bearing witness to exemplary industrial paternalism.

Today, the site combines memory and reconversion. The 2024 Heritage Days revealed the reception hall in the former factory, while the Bern mission finances the restoration of roofs and frames. This place, winner of the 2024 Lotto du Patrimoine, illustrates the resilience of a franco-comtois industrial heritage, between technical innovation and social utopia.

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