Musselman/Vesta Furnace - Marietta, PA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

In Marietta, by the Musselman-Vesta Visitor Center is this historical marker about the iron furnace that used to be here.

The furnace is located east of the village of Marietta. From US 30, travel north on PA Route 441 to Furnace Road on the left, then travel on this road to the end and the visitor center.

The sign has the following text:

"Musselman/Vesta Furnace

The Musselman/Vesta Furnace was built in 1868 by Henry Musselman and H. M. Watts from Marietta. It was the last of eight anthracite-fired furnaces built on the Susquehanna floodplain between Columbia and Mariatta. Located adjacent to canal and rail lines which brought coal from northeastern Pennsylvania, Musselman's furnace produced pig iron, which was sent to local rolling mills to make railroad rails.

Over the years the furnace experienced a series of ownerships and remodelings. By 1886, under the ownership of Watts, Twells & Company and known as the Vesta Furnace, it was producing 22,500 tons of pig iron annually under the brand name 'Vesta.'

In 1917 the furnace was brought by E. J. Lavino, who put it into operation smelting scrap and producing ferromanganese ore fed into the furnace each day produced a daily output of 80 tons of ferromanganese.

The furnace ceased operations in the 1930s and was dismantled shortly thereafter. The furnace office building (under restoration) still stands, as does a workers tenement house nearby. Scattered foundations and railroad supports in the adjacent woods mark the former presence of the furnace itself."

There are several pictures that illustrate the furnace and some of the workers there.

The building has recently been nicely restored on the outside and the inside is currently being restored and is used as a museum about the furnace - open Sundays. See the web site for details.


Source

Marietta Restoration Associates:
(visit link)

Group that erected the marker: Rivertowns PA URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Furnace Road Marietta, PA United States of America 17457

Visit Instructions:
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Date Logged Log   08/12/2021 philflyboy visited it