Industrial History Sites in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is extremely rich in historical sites ...
... devoted to its industrial and transportation heritage. Although many are owned and operated by private entities, the "Keystone State" is fortunate to contain several such sites maintained by the National Park Service (NPS), the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Those government-operated industrial heritage sites are the subjects of this web site.
Click on the pictures below ...
... for links to websites and photo essays about these sites based on visits I made on a tour of the Commonwealth between 1999 and 2002.
NATIONAL HISTORICAL SITES
A complete 18th-century charcoal iron plantation with living history demonstrations of the charcoal iron making industry.
Center piece of the system of canals, railroads, and inclined plains that connected Philadelphia and the Ohio Valley in the early 19th Century.
A Museum dedicated to North American railroads, with emphasis on the railroads serving the Anthracite Coal region of northeastern PA, located in Scranton.
PENNSYLVANIA STATE HERITAGE SITES
Indoor & outdoor exhibits covering the
history of Pennsylvania's petroleum
industry, located in Titusville
Indoor & outdoor exhibits covering the
history of logging & lumbering in
Pennsylvania, located in Potter County
Early 19th-century charcoal iron furnace with working blast engine, located in Lebanon County
Indoor & outdoor exhibits covering railroads in Pennsylvania, adjacent to the Strasburg Railroad in Lancaster County
STATE PARKS & LOCAL INDUSTRIAL HISTORICAL SITES
A recreational state park located on a former
charcoal iron plantation in Rothrock State Forest in Huntingdon County.
A National Historic District in Franklin Township, Huntingdon County on private property
A recreational state park in Michaux State Forest based on the Caledonia Furnace iron plantation in Franklin County
Another recreational state park in Michaux State Forest based on the Pine Grove Furnace iron plantation north of Caledonia Furnace
A short, moderate trail leading to the ruins of Cross's Furnace near Kennerdale, Venango County
The link takes you to a guide to FOUR charcoal iron furnace stacks, including one on a golf course.
A charcoal iron furnace with hot blast apparatus still intact, on the Ghost Town Bike Trail in Vintondale, Indiana County
Hopewell Furnace National Historical Site
Allegheny Portage National Historical Site
Steamtown National Historical Site
Drake Well Museum
Pennsylvania Lumber Museum
National Canal Museum
Cornwall Iron Furnace
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania