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Madison Iron Furnace
10 May 2016 08:03 pmI did find the remains of the Madison iron furnace today - just a few scattered stones, as expected. The stones do match up well with photos taken in 2003 by others, so they haven't been disturbed. The slag pile that ran down into the creek seems to be gone, though, likely because of the heavy flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Originally thirty-two or thirty-five feet high. By 1966 it was just a scattering of stones.
The furnace operated 1843-1873, as near as I can tell. Many sources incorrectly list an earlier start date. Employed 75 people, most living in the village that grew up around the furnace.
I've been unable to locate any trace of the village, but there's still a large area to look over. A railroad line was laid through part of the old village site (a ghost town at that point) in the1920's and later abandoned.
EDIT: The railroad started as the Franklin & Clearfield railroad, chartered in 1902 and in operation between Franklin, PA and Brookville, PA beginning in September, 1909. This is the same railroad that built the two tunnels and the trestle across the Clarion river just north of the Madison Furnace site. That railroad line is shown to be a Penn Central line on the 1969 Clarion quadrangle map. A temporary spur was laid from the east side of the trestle along the Clarion River to the Piney Dam substation in 1941 so two new, 25 ton transformers could be brought in; the main line is referred to as the "New York Central railway" in contemporary reports.
I'm guessing that the furnace was raided for its stones for use in construction in 1909, if not by local residents before then.
Oh, the old railroad will have it's own entries later - the abandoned tunnels and trestle are still there :)
EDIT THE SECOND: Woo! My Google-Fu is strong tonight! Found a contemporary article in The Railway Age that discusses the Franklin & Clearfield line in general and mentions the tunnels and trestle in particular - and they were under construction (or finished) as of March, 1908.
EDIT THE THIRD: It's suggested by a local author (whose name I didn't get) that the furnace was recycled for building materials (torn down) around the time the tunnels were built.
Originally thirty-two or thirty-five feet high. By 1966 it was just a scattering of stones.
The furnace operated 1843-1873, as near as I can tell. Many sources incorrectly list an earlier start date. Employed 75 people, most living in the village that grew up around the furnace.
I've been unable to locate any trace of the village, but there's still a large area to look over. A railroad line was laid through part of the old village site (a ghost town at that point) in the
EDIT: The railroad started as the Franklin & Clearfield railroad, chartered in 1902 and in operation between Franklin, PA and Brookville, PA beginning in September, 1909. This is the same railroad that built the two tunnels and the trestle across the Clarion river just north of the Madison Furnace site. That railroad line is shown to be a Penn Central line on the 1969 Clarion quadrangle map. A temporary spur was laid from the east side of the trestle along the Clarion River to the Piney Dam substation in 1941 so two new, 25 ton transformers could be brought in; the main line is referred to as the "New York Central railway" in contemporary reports.
I'm guessing that the furnace was raided for its stones for use in construction in 1909, if not by local residents before then.
Oh, the old railroad will have it's own entries later - the abandoned tunnels and trestle are still there :)
EDIT THE SECOND: Woo! My Google-Fu is strong tonight! Found a contemporary article in The Railway Age that discusses the Franklin & Clearfield line in general and mentions the tunnels and trestle in particular - and they were under construction (or finished) as of March, 1908.
EDIT THE THIRD: It's suggested by a local author (whose name I didn't get) that the furnace was recycled for building materials (torn down) around the time the tunnels were built.
