The Grand Tour

 Back in the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries people of the upper classes would take a journey through Europe, as a sort of an educational rite of passage. They visited historic spots and cities, most often ending up in Italy. Now, in the 21^st century, this custom has fallen away but in an attempt to continue it on, I went along with a couple friends on our own Grand Tour.

    Frank Festa, Bob Davis and I had plans to visit a group of historical structures and sites this week. Though it would only last for a half of a day and we would never leave the state of Pennsylvania, it was still a Grand Tour to us! Frank had compiled a list of old iron furnaces stretching from rt.22 down to rt.30. Starting below the town of Armagh, we would follow rt.711 south to Ligonier. If time allowed, there were three furnaces on the far side of rt.30.

    The list had 10 furnaces on it. Most were still standing while a few were completely gone. Some had been rebuilt and taken care of and some were being taken back by nature. The fun of the trip was seeing what we could find. In a way, we were going back into the 19^th century!

    All of these furnaces had been built in the 1800’s. They are remnants of the early iron industry. The metal made in them was used to make tools and other essentials needed by a growing civilization. The near-by buildings which supported these industries are all gone, if anything only the stone furnaces remain.

    The first furnace we arrived at, the Laurel Hill Furnace, was sitting beside the road! It is huge and to make it even easier for us, it was located on Furnace Lane. This furnace was built in 1845 and went out of blast around 1855-1860. Over the years, the furnace has been well cared for; trees have been removed from it preventing destruction by the roots, a major cause of collapse, though they are starting to re-grow once again. It has four arches, one on each side unlike most furnaces. There was slag all over the ground around it and in the fields across the road. We also located the stone dam that provided power to the water wheel.

    A couple miles further up the road, we found the Baldwin Furnace. This involved a walk of about ¾ mile, uphill of course! Located on a state game land, the furnace is rarely visited. Built in 1810, this has only 2 arches on it, but it has a nice set back. (ledge) The furnace, built 35 years before the Laurel Hill furnace is in rather poor shape. The back side has collapsed, and the chimney has fallen in on itself. 

    The Hanna Furnace was built sometime before 1810. We had references to where it was located but they were written in the 1960’s. There are supposedly, remains still there but we couldn’t find them. We did locate some slag, so we knew we were in the right place. 

    In case you’re wondering what slag is, it is the sludge that accumulates on top of the molten iron in a furnace. It is scrapped off and discarded before the molten iron is poured. It is molten also and often contains air pockets and folds and ripples in it. It often shows layers when broken.

    A mile or two further down the road we came to the Ross Furnace. What makes this furnace interesting is that it sits on a golf course, with a putting green directly in front of it! Built in 1815, it has been well taken care of and is in very good shape. The owners and workers of this furnace played an important part in the Underground Railroad.

    Further south we came to the Valley View (or Hillsview) Furnace. I have always enjoyed visiting this furnace since it sits in a cow pasture. If you’re lucky, the cows will be grazing beside it. Sadly, the cows were across the street when we arrived.  This furnace was built 1850 and is falling in on itself. Trees and shrubs are growing on it adding to the destruction. This structure has 4 arches in it like the Laurel Hill furnace. It is built out of field stone making it look much older, and not as stately as some of the other furnaces with quarried and shaped stones.

    Next on Frank’s list was the Oak Grove Furnace. This hadn’t been seen by our sources, they only gave an approximate location. At the far end of a field beside Mill Creek we found an old silo. Supposedly the barn was built over top of where the furnace sat. There was slag in the field but near the silo, the brush was too thick to see anything. A near-by hillside could have been the loading ramp. Frank, being much more skeptical than me thinks it might have been somewhere other than near the silo. We found the silo and some slag, so I consider it as a find!

    After a stop to sample the local cuisine at a near-by Sheetz, we went another mile down the road to a bridge crossing Mill Stream. We searched around in the woods and on both sides of the bridge looking for any remains of the Hermitage Furnace without finding anything. We did find some stacked stones in the stream but figured they were part of an old bridge structure, not the furnace.  

    Below Ligonier we visited the California Furnace. To get there we had to drive across a nice little covered bridge. The furnace site is set up like a small park with picnic tables scattered around in front of the furnace. The top has been rebuilt and I believe at one time, before being rebuilt, the complete furnace was underground. Built in 1853, it has a nice deep stone waterway coming out from beneath the furnace.

    Returning back to rt.30 we went a few more miles up the mountain where we came to Furnace Run Lane. We asked a worker on the property for permission to visit the Washington Furnace but were denied. Too many people have been sneaking down to the stream to fish and the owners don’t appreciate it. We did see some “relics” from the furnace though, a large solidified puddle of iron and some slag were displayed in their driveway.

    We visited a couple RR stations in Ligonier and then headed back north to rt.22 by way of Derry where we stopped to take a few pictures of a train. In another hour, or so, I was back home. I had been gone almost 13 hours.

    We never left the continent, we didn’t cross over the “big pond”, but we did see a lot of history in our journey. Much like the historic spots in Europe, some of these places were well kept and complete with signage while some of the others were only tales passed down from generation to generation. We hadn’t been gone for a month or more and we never made it to Italy, but to celebrate our Grand Tour, I had a plate of spaghetti before hitting the sack!

Snow Day

 The night was filled with snow; lights in the valley below me were hardly visible. In the morning, the sky was clear and there was a promise of a beautiful day. Snow was clinging to the limbs of the trees and the roads appeared clear. An hour later, after cleaning about 3 inches of snow off of my car, I was at Ann Marie’s place. The slanting morning sunshine was giving a golden glow to the snow covered trees.

    We had no destination planned. We find that this is often the best way to go on an adventure. Point the car in a certain direction and go. Chances are we will run into something exciting! Today we pointed the car towards the rising sun, towards the east. The Laurel Highlands were in that direction and they always have roads that provide lots of scenic views.

    Before we got going, we had to put some gas in the car and some caffeine in us. While I filled the car, Ann Marie went inside for libations. While filling the car, I heard a bang behind me and watched as a man drove away from the pumps with the hose still inserted in his car, the hose dragging behind him. I waved my arms and yelled at him to stop. He smiled and rolled down his window, wondering what was the big deal. His smile quickly left his face when I told him what had happened. Luckily, no gas was spilled. I guess it was just good luck that we were there to tell him what happened, of course, he would’ve found out eventually!

    Back on the road, Ann Marie looked at the Gazetteer to find a place to go. On the map was a batch of iron furnaces we had visited in the past. It might be nice to see what they looked like with snow on them, and so our course was narrowed down.

    Driving along, searching for a small road, we drove right past it and started something that followed us throughout the day, we had to turn around. This happened at least 5 times and it got to be rather funny as the trend continued

    We turned onto a road that had a steep drop off, we felt as if we were going to slide into the ditch. Snow was covering it but other cars had already passed by. A few miles down the road we came to a reservoir and then, right at a bend in the road, there was the Ross Furnace. It sits on a golf course! We could see a flag on a pole in the hole on the green in front of it. Of course, we couldn’t see if it was really green, it looked white to us!

    This furnace was built around 1815 and worked until the 1850’s. One of the owners, along with some of the workers was involved in the underground railroad and they helped a lot of people in their quest for freedom.

    Continuing on the same road would eventually bring us to another furnace. We stopped to talk to a young man and ended up giving him a ride. Jake had a head full of historic knowledge. We enjoyed talking about similar interests with him. 

    The next furnace was the Hillview, or Valley Furnace. We have seen cows around the furnace in the past but there were none there today. This furnace was built in 1850 and used coke as a fuel instead of charcoal. This gave it a higher heat. It is made out of uncut stone and has four arches, though we could only see three of them. There is an electric fence that keeps the cattle in and the curious out!

    Being in the “neighborhood”, we drove back Coke Oven Road to see the long row of coke ovens. The road hadn’t been plowed yet, we broke through the snow, eventually turning around when we saw that the ovens were pretty much covered by the snow. I pulled over to take a couple shots and of course…a snowplow stopped behind me. The driver was a nice guy who let me finish taking my pictures. We laughed about how I was about 10 minutes too early; I should’ve waited and then been able to drive on a clear road. I then led the plow back out to the main roads.

      We proceeded to the other side of route 30 and entered an area full of horse farms. Snow covered trees arched over the roads with a wide stream flowing beside us. Crossing over a small covered bridge we came to the remains of the California Furnace.

    According to a paper written by Myron B. Sharp in 1972, (The California Furnace and the Iron Industry) the building was originally built in 1853. It was a cold blast furnace powered by a waterwheel. The furnace made little profit during its life and it was the last furnace built in Westmoreland County. The furnace went out of blast sometime around 1862. It deteriorated over the years and was rebuilt at a later date.

    After visiting the furnace and enjoying the sights and sounds of the near-by stream, we stopped at The Gateway Café. We both had a bowl of French Onion Soup with lightly toasted Rye Bread, an excellent meal for warming us up after walking around in the snow.

    We stopped at one more furnace on our way back. The Laurel Hill Furnace was built in 1845 and ran until 1855-1860. Ann Marie stayed in the car for this stop. The Baldwin Furnace is about a mile or two further up the road but due to the snow and the long walk to it, we decided to save it for a warmer day.

    While out exploring, we saw skies varying from bright blue to dark grey, there were times we drove through snow flurries and at other times, clouds of snow blown off the trees. There were places where the roads were covered with blowing drifts and other spots where we were the first car to break the pristine surfaces. We were treated to postcard-like vistas and the furnaces all looked like they had been frosted.

    We arrived back home in the late afternoon, tired and a bit sore from sitting in the car seats for so long but completely happy with our snow day experience!