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In a county where blast furnaces are a common sight and were so recently a tremendous influence, it seems odd that the earliest efforts in the iron industry are so completely forgotten.
On a recent field trip with some friends, we found the Bassenheim Furnace in Franklin Township Oust off PA288 at Furnace Road). We found the furnace to be in quite an unfortunate condition, with most of the stone work fallen away and only about one-third of the stack lining, coated with fused slag, standing as mute evidence of the onetime active enterprise.
A closer look at the terrain offered additional evidence: a pile of charcoal on the bank above the furnace; roadways leading to both the top and the bottom of the stack; and a pile of cut stone that must have been a building which served the furnace operation.
Bassenheim Furnace was built in 1814 by Dr. Detmar Basse, who founded a nearby community and named it for his (reportedly) beautiful daughter, Zelie. Old records show that the furnace produced some five tons of iron a week, but went "out of blast" after only ten years of operation.
In that period of history, the production of this furnace must have been extremely important to the pioneer families in this area. Iron goods produced from local raw materials were certainly more economical than those which had to be hauled over the crude roads crossing the mountain barriers to the East.
On the other hand, it must have been for economic reasons that the furnace ceased operations, while the surrounding land was still being settled. Or maybe it was in 1824 that the furnace collapsed, leaving it in its present condition for nearly 150 years.
Bassenheim was one of the three stone blast furnaces that were in operation in the early days in Beaver Valley. The first to be constructed was the Brighton Furnace in Beaver Falls. Records show that it was built in 1808 and "blown out" or ceased production in 1826. An old map of the present day Beaver Falls area locates the furnace on the Beaver River, on the North side of Walnut Run.
Some early records indicate that the Harmony Society attempted to purchase the furnace property in 1812, while the Society was still located in Harmony, PA, on property purchased from Dr. Basse. This has not been verified, but the Society did, of course, buy the town of "Brighton" in 1868, which included the furnace site.
The amateur archeologist today will find a jumble of old stone foundations at the mouth of Walnut Run, evidence of the important industrial district that thrived under Harmonist management in the latter years of the 19th Century. No remains of the furnaces are in evidence, however. Perhaps the stone from the stack was used in construction of the mill race which supplied power for the numerous mills of the district.
Bassenheim was the second furnace to be built, and it was "in blast" from 1814 to 1824. The third, and last, to appear was the Homewood Furnace, built in 1858. Homewood Furnace was located just above the bank of the Beaver Division Canal, which gave it a great advantage in transportation of both raw materials and finished iron products.
Records show that Homewood Furnace operated for nine or ten years. Today, it is completely covered by an old dump. The foundations of several old buildings are visible. These were probably related to the furnace operation.
There is also some evidence of a railroad grade which may have been used to haul materials to the top of the furnace. Furnaces were typically built just over the edge of a hill, to make handling of the ore and fuel easier. In many cases, such as with Homewood Furnace, the arrangement was also practical for dumping trash when the furnace was no longer needed.
The furnace site is on the hillside above the Beaver River, a quarter mile or so below Connoquenessing Creek.
Beaver Valley residents can make some sort of claim to several other stone blast furnaces. Until 1849, Beaver County stretched northward until it met Mercer County. The old county line passed through present-day New Castle. In fact, the courthouse for Lawrence County is on County Line Street.
South of this former boundary and prior to 1849, at least two furnaces were built, and thus were located in Beaver County. Lawrence Furnace, on a branch hollow leading to Slippery Rock Creek, may still be seen. It was built against an overhanging cliff, and a well drilled down through the clifftop served as a stack.
The raw materials were thus dumped into a hole in the ground and tapped out the bottom as pig-iron! Lawrence Furnace operated from 1846 to 1875. It was sold some years later, but never put back into operation.
Upstream along the Slippery Rock, Hope Furnace was built in 1845 near the village of Rose Point. The site was completely obliterated by quarrying before the present century. Across the creek stands the excellent remains of Wilroy Furnace, visible from US 422 as it crosses the Slippery Rock. Built in 1854, Wilroy missed Beaver County by only five years.
Another near-miss was Wampum Furnace, built in 1856 and now covered by railroad embankments.
Furnace locations were determined by several factors, similar to those affecting industrial operations today. An adequate supply of raw materials close-by was the first consideration, and practical transportation to market was also important.
Iron production required coal or wood for fuel (purified to coke or charcoal); iron ore, and limestone to clean the impurities out of the ore (making "slag", the ever-present by-product of the iron industry).
The hills of Beaver Valley provided plenty of limestone and coal, but the ore, at its best, was of very low grade. Beds of better ore were found in Fayette and Clarion Counties, and adjacent areas. This explains why the old furnaces in these regions are counted by the dozens instead of the three (or five) in Beaver County. We might claim the last laugh, however. Out of Bassenheim Furnace and the other stone blast furnaces grew one of mankind's greatest endeavors: The American iron and steel industry. And when "Big Steel" matured and settled down to roost, Beaver Valley got her share.