The W. A. Young and Sons Foundry and Machine Shop is a historic industrial facility at 116 Water Street in

Rices Landing, Pennsylvania Rices Landing is a borough in Greene County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 426 at the 2020 census. Geography Rices Landing is located in northeastern Greene County at (39.946282, -79.993295), on the south (west) bank of the Mon ...

. Founded in 1900 and operating until 1965, it is one of the best-preserved examples of an early 20th-century small industrial machine shop in the nation. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 2016.

Description and history

The Young Foundry and Machine Shop is located in the village of Rices Landing, on the south side of the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in North Cen ...

in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. It is set on the south side of Water Street, which separates most of the property from the river. The shop is a complex of three interconnected wood-frame structures, which are basically utilitarian and vernacular in appearance, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. The Front Shop, the largest building, houses the main machine shop on the ground floor and the Pattern Shop on the second floor. Attached to the rear of this building are two smaller ones, housing the Foundry and the "Back Shop". Tools and equipment are arranged by function, in order to maximize flexibility. In the late 19th century, Rice's Landing was a prosperous shipment point for the region. In 1900 William A. Young built the foundry and machine shop purchased that year. He established a small foundry and metal machine shop on the premises. The foundry operated until the 1930s, when Young closed it, unable to compete with larger and more efficient operations. The shop remained in operation until 1965, operated after Young's death in 1940 by his two sons. The building and its entire suite of tools, patterns, and records, was acquired by the Greene County Historical Society in 1985. It sold the property in 2009 to the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation, which has undertaken preservation of the site.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania Industrial buildings completed in 1900 Industrial buildings and structures in Pennsylvania Greene County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Pennsylvania Historic district contributing properties in Pennsylvania

Description and history

See also

References