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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Jackson Township near Huntingdon in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Basic Ingredients

Greenwood Furnace State Park

 
 
Basic Ingredients Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, November 9, 2015
1. Basic Ingredients Marker
Inscription.
Before the age of railroads, the basic ingredients of iron production needed to be nearby. That explains why furnaces were built in rural settings surrounded by the necessary raw materials.

A source of iron ore was essential.

As the furnace fires burned, limestone separated impurities from the molten iron.

Huge forests supplied wood for charcoal, a fuel that burned with intense heat.

A stream or creek provided water power to operate machinery designed to fan the charcoal fire, raising its temperature to nearly 3,000 F.

[Captions:]
Mule drawn wagons loaded ore, limestone, charcoal and pig iron.

Some iron ore was found near the surface while other deposits required miners to descend into tunnels as long as 200 yards.

Colliers built conical mounds of wood, then set them afire.

A controlled slow-burning fire changed wood into charcoal.
 
Erected by Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & CommerceNatural Resources.
 
Location. 40° 39.116′ N, 77° 45.201′ W. Marker is near Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, in Huntingdon County. It is in Jackson Township.

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Marker is on Broad Mountain Road. This marker is located on the grounds of Greenwood Furnace State Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 15795 Greenwood Rd, Huntingdon PA 16652, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The Worker’s Pyramid (here, next to this marker); From Mineral To Metal (a few steps from this marker); An Undeniable Presence (a few steps from this marker); An Industry in Ruins (a few steps from this marker); The “Best” Iron (a few steps from this marker); Greenwood Furnace (within shouting distance of this marker); Methodist Episcopal Church (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Blacksmith & Wagon Shop (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Huntingdon.
 
Basic Ingredients Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, November 9, 2015
2. Basic Ingredients Marker
Greenwood Furnace image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, November 9, 2015
3. Greenwood Furnace
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 21, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 224 times since then and 7 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on November 21, 2015, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024