Franklin Furnace, Montour County

 

The Franklin Furnace, one of nearly a dozen that once operated in the vicinity, is the only still standing furnace in Danville. It's located on Old Furnace Rd, off of 642. Located on private property, the furnace is completely visible from the road.

"Franklin Furnace - This anthracite furnace was built in 1846 and produced roughly 45 tons of pig iron per week until the 1860s. Located 0.2 miles north of Route 642 on Old Furnace Road." - From the "Discover Danville" Sign on Mill street.

"The Old Maus farm has many associations of interest in the development of the county. The old Franklin Furnace, built in 1845 by Samuel R. Wood was on this property."  Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania by J.H. Beers, 1915

At various Iron Heritage Festivals, Eugene Shipe portrayed a frictional character named Gabriel Cameron, using this persona to teach about the furnace. Shipe, or "Cameron", said that the furnace produced 500 tons of iron a year, beginning in 1845.

The furnace was filled with a mixture of anthracite coal, limestone, and iron ore.  At 2,800 degrees, the iron would melt and sink to the bottom, from where it was drained.  

"Cameron" lived in a double house owned by the company just a couple of hundred yards from the furnace.  He earned $1.25 for 12 hours of work, good money in those days, but he still struggled to get ahead.

In November of 1857 the Franklin Furnace, "in Montour County, with all the real estate lately owned by Samuel R. Wood Esq" was sold to Messrs Dewitt & Wheeler, along with the Chulasky Anthracite Iron Furnace at Red Point in Northumberland County.  "The works are now in possession of the new proprietors and carried on by them in spite of hard times."

According to the Danville News, there were approximately 10 working furnaces in the mid 1800s, in Danville.  The Franklin Furnace is the only one still standing.  It's thought that it may have only operated for 15 years, shutting down sometime between 1857 and 1860, when it could not longer compete  with the iron production in Pittsburgh.

See a video by Van Wagner, featuring the Franklin Furnace, and showing more about how it was used.

Sign posted at the Furnace

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Samuel Woods [1791-1858] will, made in January of 1858, makes no mention of the furnace in the inventory [which makes sense, since it was purchased by Dewitt & Wheeler to months prior to him making his will].  In his will he mentions his brother Thomas, sisters Hannah and Anna, and two nephews - Richard Richardson of Philadelphia, and Robert Richardson of Chulusky, Northumberland County.

Cider Press constructed from the wood of the old Furnace buildings