Plumbe Forge
Rush Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
About six-tenths mile north are the remains of the forge built by Dr. John Plumbe in 1828. Here, "blooms" were made from pig iron carried from the Bald Eagle Valley by mule. Costs of hauling products to the Pennsylvania Canal caused the forge to close in 1842.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
About six-tenths of a mile north lie the ruins of an iron forge built by Dr. John Plumbe in 1828, where workers hammered pig iron into "blooms" — semi-refined bars of wrought iron. The raw pig iron was hauled in by mule from the Bald Eagle Valley, a reminder of how rugged and costly moving materials was in early industrial Pennsylvania. The expense of carting the finished iron to the Pennsylvania Canal finally forced the forge to shut down in 1842.
Why it matters
Small backcountry forges like this were the seedbed of Pennsylvania's iron industry, and their dependence on mule trains and canals shows how transportation costs made or broke early American manufacturing.
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Related people
- · Dr. John Plumbe
Themes & tags
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