Eagle Iron Works and Curtin Village

Eagle Iron Works and Curtin Village. Heart of Pennsylvania's Longest-Lived and Last Operating Charcoal Iron Plantation. , 1810 Irish immigrant Roland Curtin Sr. and Cumberland County native Moses Boggs establish Eagle Forge (iron refinery) near Philip Antes' grist-and-lumber mills 1,000 feet northwest of this spot, on the south side of Bald Eagle Creek, three miles downstream from Centre County's Milesburg., 1818 Roland Curtin becomes sole proprietor of Eagle Forge, then constructs Eagle Furnace (iron ore smeltery) and a workers village near iron ore deposits one mile south of Eagle Forge, where a new road between Eagle Forge and Milesburg crosses Antes Run (now Nittany Creek)., 1825 Roland Curtin acquires from Philip Antes the mill tract adjoining the west and south sides of the Eagle Forge property, then builds on it a four-story stone gristmill and several one-story log houses for forge employees and their families., 1830-31 Roland Curtin oversees construction of a three-story ironmaster's residence (Curtin Mansion) 800 feet southeast of Eagle Forge, across Curtin Road from the mill and workers village; the mansion becomes the nerve center of Curtin Village, Eagle Iron Works, and the 900-acre Eagle Iron plantation., mid-1830s Curtin Village amenities include a company store, an eight-grade public school, and a Methodist church (Eagle Chapel, later named "Curtin Methodist Church")., 1839 The system of canals and slackwater pools known as the Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation-designed to extend from the Centre County seat at Bellefonte to a connection with the West Branch Pennsylvania Canal near Lock Haven, Clinton County-is completed as far west as Eagle Iron Works, boosting transportation of materials, products, and people in and out of Eagle Iron plantation., 1844 80-year-old Roland Curtin retires to Bellefonte (four miles southwest of Curtin Village) and turns over his multifaceted iron enterprise to his sons., 1848 Roland Curtin's sons John and Constans (operating as "C.&J. Curtin') construct Pleasant Furnace 400 feet south of Eagle Forge, replacing defunct Eagle Furnace; as Eagle Iron Works' only functioning furnace. Pleasant Furnace becomes known as "Eagle Furnace.", 1850 The workers village at Eagle Iron Works is home to more than 200 men, women, and children, grouped in 28 households; 39 of the men and boys are on the Works' payroll, employed as forge and furnace hands, blacksmiths, carpenters, drivers, woodcutters, colliers, and general laborers., 1864 The Pennsylvania Railroad Company completes the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad between Tyrone and Lock Haven, passing through Curtin Village: passenger and freight depots are built beside the railroad's crossing of Curtin Road, forming "Curtin Station.", 1867 In a new Eagle Iron Works company store erected 150 feet east of Curtin Station, the federal government establishes a post office named "Roland.", 1889 Growing indebtedness and diminished demand for charcoal iron forces third-generation ironmaster Henry ("Harry") Roland Curtin to suspend operations at Eagle Iron Works., 1899 Harry Curtin and a small group of investors form the Eagle Iron Company and reopen the iron works on a limited scale, employing a skeleton crew., 1909 Harry Curtin dies, having the distinction of being the only Eagle Iron Works ironmaster to live his entire life on the Eagle Iron plantation; he is succeeded by son Hugh Laird Curtin Sr., destined to serve as the Works' last ironmaster., 1921 Curtin Station, once regarded as "among the most important stops on the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad,” is closed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company., 1921-22 Eagle Furnace's wooden superstructure is destroyed by fire in May 1921, halting iron production at Eagle Iron Works; Eagle Forge processes the last stockpile of pig iron, then shuts down early in 1922; Eagle Iron Works enters history as the longest-lived and last operating charcoal iron works in Pennsylvania., 1935 The post office in Curtin Village's general store (renamed "Curtin P.O.” in 1907) is terminated, and the store closes., 1951 Thomazine Potter Curtin, widow of Hugh Laird Curtin Sr., vacates the Curtin Mansion and moves to Bellefonte, ending the mansion's 120-year occupation by five generations of Curtins., 1960s-70s Curtin heirs convey the core of Eagle Iron Works and Curtin Village to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for use as a museum; the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) oversees restoration of the site's surviving buildings and the replication of Eagle Furnace; the non-profit Roland Curtin Foundation for the Preservation of Eagle Furnace, organized in 1966, partners with the PHMC to maintain the site and conduct public tours, which begin in 1974; replicated Eagle Furnace is opened to the public in 1978., [Photo captions, left side top to bottom, read] , . Northwestward view of Eagle Iron Works and Curtin Village, circa 1870 (colorized). , [Legend of buildings in photo, not transcribed], . ABOVE: Eagle Iron Works employees and family members pose in front of Eagle Furnace, circa 1872 (colorized)., . LEFT: Components of Eagle Iron Works are denoted on a map of Boggs Township published in the 1874 Atlas of Centre County, Pennsylvania. The Iron Works' northeastern cluster-including Eagle Forge, Eagle Furnace, the workers village, and the Curtin Mansion (all within the yellow circle)-is served by the Roland Post Office and the Curtin Station of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Bald Eagle Branch. The cluster one mile to the southwest (within the red circle) includes a rolling mill, foundry, houses, and iron ore mines., [Photo captions, right side left to right, read] , . Eastward view of Eagle Furnace, Curtin Mansion, and worker houses, ca. 1870 (colorized)., . Southeastward view of Eagle Iron Works and Curtin Village, ca. 1870 (colorized). , [Legend of buildings in photo, not transcribed]