Pine Grove Furnance Area History

[David]

Wanderbirds' PA 94 to Pine Grove Furnace State Park Hike
The section of the A.T. we are hiking today is in Pennsylvania's
Michaux (pronounced me-show) State Forest between PA Route 94 and Pine
Grove Furnace State Park. This area is steeped in history. Hessian
troops in the 1700's, escaped slaves in the 1800's, and Nazi submarine
commanders earlier in this century all passed this way.
Today's long hike starts at PA Route 94 with a 200 foot climb up
Trents Hill then a downhill ramble to join up with the moderate hikers
starting at PA Route 34. After a mile of hiking with little
elevation, all hikers will have a 4-mile gentle ascent up Piney
Mountain followed by a 3.5-mile descent to the plateau housing Pine
Grove Furnace State Park, Fuller Lake and the bus. Along the way, we
will see mountain laurel and blueberry bushes, sassafras trees, fields
dotted with pines and an occasional wildflower.
On the downward slope of Piney Mountain a little over a mile north of
Pine Grove Furnace State Park, we will pass the A.T.'s nominal
midpoint. It is marked with sign and draped with the hopes of all the
end-to-enders who started the hike of 2,150-plus miles in Georgia or
Maine. The 8-foot-tall sign was fashioned out of Pennsylvania poplar
and erected in 1987 by Chuck Wood of Norristown, who thru-hiked in
1985. We will not experience the exhilaration of the foot-weary hikers
who reach the milepost after hitting the trail every day for three
months, however, some of us may feel the energy and see the aura
around the marker as we pass.
Social history features of the area: Camp Michaux prisoner of war camp
(2 miles west of Pine Grove Furnace); Ironmaster's Mansion Underground
Railroad stop.
Michaux State Forest Background
The Michaux State Forest (named after André Michaux, a French
botanist, who was dispatched in 1785 by King Louis XVI of France and
his Queen Marie Antoinette to gather plants for the Royal Gardens) is
in several tracts covering more than 85,000 acres. It was once owned
by several large iron companies. The iron companies used the old
growth forests of South Central Pennsylvania to fire their iron
furnaces like Pine Grove Furnace, Caledonia and Mont Alto. Colliers
gathered the wood and created charcoal by slow burning the logs in
massive charcoal kilns that dotted the landscape of what is now
Michaux State Forest. Now a thriving second growth forest, remnants
of the charcoal days, can still be seen in the state forest as the
land where the kilns burned for so many years has yet to fully
recover.
Pine Grove Furnace
The first iron furnace at Pine Grove Furnace was built in 1764. The
early furnace manufactured products made of cast iron like fireplace
backs, iron kettles and ten plate stoves. Laurel Forge was built in
1830. This forge hammered and reheated the cast iron to make wrought
iron. Wrought iron is a product that can be easily bent into many
different shapes. Firearms used in the Revolutionary War and the Civil
War were made from iron produced by the Pine Grove Furnace and
fashioned at Laurel Forge. The furnaces at Pine Grove burned only
charcoal for the first 112 years. The demand for charcoal was great.
One iron furnace could consume one acre of forest in one day. Massive
charcoal furnaces were built at Kings Gap (see map), just a few miles
from Pine Grove Furnace, to meet these needs. The charcoal was created
by stacking timber around large hearths. The hearths were fired by a
collier, who tended the hearths for 10 to 14 days until the charcoal
was ready. The charcoal was then sent to the waiting iron furnaces at
Pine Grove Furnace. It gradually became more difficult to acquire the
needed volume of charcoal as the surrounding mountains were stripped
of their timber.
Throughout the winter of 1878, the iron furnace went through a total
renovation raising the stack to 36 feet with closed bell and hopper on
top, a steam hoist to raise raw material to the top of the new stack
and three tuyeres to force air into the furnace with the new steam
blowing engine which replaced the old blowing tubs. These innovations
allowed the furnace to operate on fuels other than charcoal, which was
becoming harder to secure due to constant harvesting of the forests.
Now the furnace could be operated on coke and when that was low,
anthracite coal could be mixed with the coke. Charcoal would remain
the primary fuel of the furnace, but the furnace would no longer have
to shut down when charcoal supplies were exhausted. 1883 marked the
peak production year for the furnace, producing 6,000 net tons of cast
iron annually, but this was not enough to keep up with the competition
that was able to produce iron at a higher capacity. Pine Grove Furnace
was closed to iron production in 1895, ending 131 years of iron making
in South Mountain.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania bought the iron works and surrounding
lands, all 17,000 acres, in 1913. Most of the acquired lands became
part of Michaux State Forest. But 696 acres were set aside for the
establishment of Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Some reminders of the
iron industry days still stand at the park. The iron master's mansion
(see picture) is now a youth hostel, while the furnace, clerk's office
and stable provide a historical reference. The grist mill is being
used as the visitor center and the former inn is now the park office.
Several residences, traces of the raceway and charcoal hearths can be
seen today. Many of the facilities at the park were built during the
Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The young men of
the CCC Camp S-51-PA constructed roads throughout the state forests,
constructed bridges on the state roads, planted trees for
reforestation, and cleaned streams. In 1977, Pine Grove Furnace was
entered in the National Register of Historical Places.
Fuller Lake
Fuller Lake in Pine Grove Furnace Park was the major ore quarry from
which iron ore was mined for Pine Grove Furnace. The quarry filled
with groundwater when mining ceased. You can find pickerel, perch and
stocked trout in this 1.7 acre lake. Enjoy a swim today but exercise
caution because of the maximum 70-90 foot depths and cold subsurface
waters. Pay attention to depth markers extending out from the sandy
beach. They indicate rapid drop-offs. Swimming is only allowed
within the roped areas.