Farrandsville Iron Furnace
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Farrandsville Iron Furnace
OR:
Farrandsville Iron Furnace on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Farrandsville Iron Furnace, also known as Lycoming Coal Co., is a historic
iron furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric p ...
located at Colebrook Township in
Clinton County, Pennsylvania Clinton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,450. Its county seat is Lock Haven. The county was created on June 21, 1839, from parts of Centre and Lycoming Counties. Its name is ...
about 6 miles northwest of
Lock Haven Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area, ...
. It was built between 1836 and 1837, and measures 43 feet square by 54 feet high. It is a rare example of an early attempt to adopt coke as a
blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
fuel. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1991.


History

Capitalists from Boston financed the furnace's construction starting in 1836. John Thomas likely supervised construction and John P. Salmon was the master mason. It was equipped with Scottish machinery installed by Scot James Ralston, and produced fifty tons of pig iron per week.
Bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...
was mined at nearby Minersville and transported by inclined plane. Transportation of iron ore was from over 100 miles away via canal, but this proved difficult, as did transportation of flux from the
Nittany Valley Nittany Valley is an eroded anticlinal valley located in Centre County, Pennsylvania. It is separated from the Bald Eagle Valley by Bald Eagle Mountain and from Penns Valley by Mount Nittany. The valley is closed to the north by a high plateau t ...
. The financial
Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...
forced the furnace to close in 1838. A brick furnace was then built on the same property and was later owned by
Harbison-Walker Refractories Company Harbison-Walker Refractories Company originated as the Star Firebrick Company on March 7, 1865, with Articles of Association by a group of Pittsburgh and Allegheny residents. On January 30, 1875, Hay Walker Sr. and Samuel P. Harbison entered Articl ...
who deeded it to the Clinton County Historical Society in 1951. ''Note:'' This includes


References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Industrial buildings completed in 1837 Buildings and structures in Clinton County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Clinton County, Pennsylvania