Greene Township near Fayetteville in Franklin County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

The Workers Pyramid

Photographed By Larry Gertner, September 12, 2012

1. The Workers Pyramid Marker

Inscription. It took hundreds of workers to produce iron, although only a few actually worked at the furnace. Fillers dumped carts or ore, charcoal and limestone into the seething tunnel head. The founder, assisted by a keeper, ordered ingredients, determined the amount of air to be blasted into the furnace and decided when to draw off the iron, usually every 12 hours. Guttermen directed molted iron into the sandy, cast house floor. Some furnaces employed moulders to make castings for iron stoves and utensils.

Away from the furnace, woodchoppers harvested wood necessary for the colliers to make charcoal. Miner dug the iron ore and quarried limestone. Teamsters hauled wagons of wood, charcoal, iron ore and pig iron. A bookkeeper kept company accounts, and a host of laborers and their families completed the unskilled jobs that kept both furnace and nearby village operating.

Main illustration – 19th century furnace workers

Erected by Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce.

Location. 39° 54.4′ N, 77° 28.667′ W. Marker is near Fayetteville, Pennsylvania, in Franklin County. It is in

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Greene Township. Marker can be reached from Pine Grove Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 30 Pine Grove Rd, Fayetteville PA 17222, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Basic Ingredients (here, next to this marker); Making Iron (here, next to this marker); Caledonia Furnace (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Caledonia Furnace (within shouting distance of this marker); The Good Roads Jubilee / The Lincoln Highway (within shouting distance of this marker); Thaddeus Stevens Blacksmith Shop (within shouting distance of this marker); Mary Jemison (approx. 2.8 miles away); a different marker also named Mary Jemison (approx. 4.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Fayetteville.

Insert - the workers pyramid image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Larry Gertner, September 12, 2012

2. Insert - the workers pyramid

The Caledonia Furnace stone stack image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Larry Gertner, September 12, 2012

3. The Caledonia Furnace stone stack

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 5, 2017, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. This page has been viewed 254 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 5, 2017, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.