Meason House - Pennsylvania Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The marker reads: "The Georgian manor on the hill was built 1802 by Isaac Meason. Veteran of the Revolution, Meason was a pioneer ironmaster. In 1817 at Plumsock he built one of the first rolling mills."

Meason came to southwestern Pennsylvania in 1770, and initially bought land along Jacobs Creek, where between 1795 and 1800 he erected the Mt. Vernon iron furnace. Not long after that acquisition, he bought the Gist property at Mt. Braddock in Dunbar Township for his home.

There, in 1802, he built a large cut sandstone Georgian home which remains one of the finest examples of post-colonial architecture in western Pennsylvania.

In 1790, Meason, who became the area's leading ironmaster, built Union furnace on Dunbar Creek, along with nearby forges. This furnace was rebuilt in 1793, and the larger operation produced substantial quantities of castings, stoves, pots, kettles, irons for fireplaces and different sizes of ovens.

He also constructed a gristmill, wharf, and boatyard, and shipped the products of his furnace as far as New Orleans. Extensive commercial operations were carried out there.

Meason owned the original land of Col. William Crawford, where in 1796 he laid out the village of New Haven, now the west side of Connellsville. He also owned property in the Perryopolis area once that of George Washington and later Israel Shreve. By 1799, Meason owned well over 6,000 acres of land in Fayette County.

When a slave census was taken in 1780, Meason was one of the top slave owners in Fayette County with eight. By 1783, his prominence was such that he was named to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, then the state's governing body.

In 1800, along with Connellsville founder Zachariah Connell, Meason was authorized by the state Legislature to build a toll bridge across the Youghiogheny River. The first in the Connellsville area, it was completed shortly afterward.

The Meason firm also supplied the iron for the first metal bridge, built across Jacobs Creek between Connellsville and Mt. Pleasant at what became known as Iron Bridge.

In 1816, he built the first rolling mill west of the Alleghenies at Plumsock, later called Upper Middletown, along Redstone Creek about midway between Connellsville and Brownsville. In fact, some historical sources say it may have been the first rolling mill to "puddle" pig iron and roll bar iron in the United States.

Another distinction comes from his advertisement in 1816 in the Pittsburgh Gazette for sale of his ironworks. A bank of stone coal attached to it has been cited as the first captive coal mine in Fayette County.

An Episcopalian, he was married to Catharine Harrison. Meason also served as an associate justice in Fayette County's courts until his death, which occurred Jan. 23, 1818. First interred on his estate, the remains of Meason and his wife were later moved to Oak Grove Cemetery at Uniontown.

Isaac, best known of his three sons, took over the Meason enterprises on his father's death, after having been educated in and practicing law. Another son, Gen. Thomas, was also a lawyer. However, en route to Washington to offer his services in the War of 1812, he caught a cold that proved fatal.

Marker Name: Meason House County: Fayette Date Dedicated: 11/22/1946 Marker Type: Roadside Location: U.S. 119 4.5 miles SW of Connellsville Category: Business & Industry, Buildings, Houses & Homesteads Website: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/11/2007 Mooman56 visited it

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