Cornwall Furnace is indeed a unique survivor of the early American iron industry and families can get an up-close look at the history with a tour of the Cornwall Iron Furnace.

Cornwall Iron Furnace is an extraordinary example of the furnaces that dotted the Pennsylvania countryside in the 18th and 19th centuries. Around it developed villages, artisans’ shops, stores, schools, churches, and the home of a wealthy ironmaster. All of the raw materials necessary for the smelting process — iron ore, limestone and wood for charcoal — were found in this self contained iron plantation. Cornwall Iron Furnace, the only surviving intact charcoal cold blast furnace in the Western Hemisphere, attests to the once great iron industry that flourished in south central Pennsylvania.

https://www.cornwallironfurnace.org/history.htm

Originally built by Peter Grubb in 1742, the furnace underwent extensive renovations in 1856-57 under its subsequent owners, the Coleman family, and closed in 1883. It is this mid-19th century ironmaking complex that survives today.

At Cornwall, furnace, blast equipment, and related buildings still stand as they did over a century ago. Here visitors can explore the rambling Gothic Revival buildings where cannons, stoves, and pig iron were cast, and where men labored day and night to satisfy the furnace’s appetite for charcoal, limestone, and iron ore.

Cornwall Iron Furnace is part of a National Historic Landmark District by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. It has also been designated a National Historical Landmark by the American Society of Metals, and a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, citing Cornwall Furnace as “the only one of America’s hundreds of 19th century charcoal fueled blast furnaces to survive fully intact.

For more information on operating hours, admission rates and visiting guidelines please visit https://www.cornwallironfurnace.org/ or call 717-272-9711.