Shippenville Iron Furnace, Shippenville, Elk Twp., Clarion Co., PA

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The Iron Furnaces of Clarion County Pennsylvania

Shippenville Furnace
(Blacks Furnace),
Shippenville Forge
Shippenville,
Elk Twp.,
Clarion County,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Pennsylvania Iron Furnace Source Book
Clarion County Iron Furnaces

A Tribute to the Iron Masters and Iron Workers
that built and keep in-blast
the old Stone Blast Furnaces of Pennsylvania.

by
Raymond A. Washlaski, Historian, Archaeologist & Web Master,
Ryan P. Washlaski, Technical Advisor.

Virtual Museum of Pennsylvania Iron Furnaces
A Publication of the 19th Century Society of Pennsylvania
Updated Nov. 3, 2002

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Shippenville Furnace & Iron Works: Located near the junction of Deer Creek and Paint Creek, 1mi. southeast of Shippenville, near the Knox Spur Station, in State Game Lands No. 63, Elk Twp., Clarion County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Date Built: ca. 1831
Date Out-of-Blast: ca.1859

Shippenville Forge: Located approximately 1mi. down Deer Creek from Shippenville Furnace.

Other names Shippenville Furnace was known by:
Blacks Furnace;
Shippensville Furnace, Venango Co. (ca.1837);
Shippensville Furnace

Shippenville Furnace & Iron Works:
Shippenville Forge:
A Stone Blast Furnace & Iron Works
Owners:
Shippen, Black & Company (Richard Shippen & Jacob Black);

History of Shippenville Furnace:

Documents Relating to the Manufacture of Iron in Pennsylvania, 1850
A Detailed Statement of all the Charcoal Cold Blast Furnaces in Western Pennsylvania in the year 1850
Published on behalf of the Convention of Iron Masters,
Which met in Philadelphia, on the Twentierth of December, 1849
Philadelphia: Published by the General Committee. 1850

Name of Works	date of Sheriff's sale or failure	Furnaces in-blast 1849	Furnaces out-of-blast 1849	date of construction	Capacity in Tons
Shippenville Furnace		1		1832	1,350 Tons

Owners	Post Office	Kind of ore used	No. of Men & Boys Employed	No. of horses & mules Employed
Shippen & Black Company	Shippenville	Argillareous Carbonate	70	50

Stack No. Tuyeres	Stack Bosh	Stack Height	Kind of Power used	Kind of Metal Made	Largest product	Actual Product in 1849
1	8 feet 6 inches	32 feet	Water	Close Gray Iron & mottled and white iron or Hard Iron	1,200 Tons	1,200 Tons

(Iron Masters Association,1850:n.p.)

Shippenville Furnace, hot blast, at the junction of Deer and Paint Creeks, one mile southeast of Shippenville. Owned by Richard Shippen and Jacob Black; erected in 1832; managed by Robert Montgomery and David McKim; nine feet across the bosh by thirty-two feet high; production, 1845, about 1,200 tons; 1856, 1,500; abandoned in 1859. In connection with Shippenville furnace there was a forge -- the only one in the county. It stood a mile further down Deer Creek, and made altogether fifty tons of bar iron. (Davis,1887:116)

Shippenville Furnace. Located at the Junction of Deer and Paint Creeks,1 mile southeast of Shippenville. Hot blast. Height 32 feet, 9 foot bosh. Managed by Robert Montgomery and David McKim. Produced 1,200 tons in 1845. [Rupp listed 1847 production as 1,200 tons, 1,500 tons in 1856.] Abandoned 1859. Also had an associated forge, the only one in ClarionCounty, located about 1 mile farther down Deer Crrek, together, they produced 50 tons of bar iron. (Caldwell,1877: )

Shippensville Furnace (Blacks Furnace). Erected in 1832 at the junction of Deer and Paint Creek about a mile southeast of Shippensville. It went out of blast in 1859. (Sharp & Thomas,1966:40)

LOCATION:
From Shippenville, follow Airport Road (T424) south to State Game Lands No. 63, cross the first bridge over Little Deer Creek, to the second bridge over Deer Creek. Cross this bridge and park. Walk down stream, between the stream and hill, but closer to the hill. After about 200 feet you will see the ruins of Shippenville Furnace close to the hill. Parts of the millrace and tailrace could still be seen [ca.1966]. Slag was plentiful over the entire area [ca.1966]. (Sharp & Thomas,1966:40)

[Additional directions and information has been added to the one "Sharp & Thomas" provided.]

(It is recommended that you obtain and use the "Pennsylvania Atlas & Gazetteer" by DeLorne Mapping, as your map source in finding the Clarion County Iron Furnaces.)

The Elk Township map is cropped from a 1/50,000 USGS Geological Survey Map of Clarion County dated 1986; based on 1/24,000 maps dated 1963 through 1969.
(Map courtesy of the U.S.G.S. Topographic Survey, Washington, D.C.)

Bibliographical Sources: This section under construction.

[no pictures are presently available for Shippenville Furnace or Shippenville Forge, Clarion Co., Pa.]
If you have pictures or know of where pictures of the furnace are located or additional information on Shippenville Furnace, Clarion Co., please contact the Ironmaster

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