{"nrhp_refnum":"73000704","name":"Illinois Iron Furnace","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Shawnee National Forest","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rosiclare","county":"Hardin County","state":"IL","lat":37.49948756400005,"lon":-88.32793244599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Military","Engineering"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick-cored, stone-encased iron smelting furnace about four miles northwest of Elizabethtown, near Rosiclare, Hardin County, Illinois. It was built between 1837 and 1839, rebuilt in 1856, and reconstructed in 1967.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the furnace is the only remaining furnace of Illinois's first and last completely native iron industry. It produced high-quality pig iron from local ore and charcoal from local forests. A village grew up around it, and it operated until 1883, when cheaper Lake Superior ore made it unprofitable.","narrative":"Near Rosiclare in Hardin County, Illinois, an iron furnace marks the site of the state's only truly native iron industry. Built between 1837 and 1839 by Chalon Guard and Leonard White, it has a central brick tower about 40 feet high inside a tapering stone casing, with arched recesses where molten metal ran into molds to make pig iron. Local limonite ore and charcoal from nearby forests fed the furnace, which at full operation could produce nine tons of iron a day. It was enlarged in 1856, closed in 1861, and ran again from 1874 until 1883, when ore from the Lake Superior region undercut it. A village with a post office grew up around it. After decades of decay and damage in the 1930s, the Golconda Job Corps Center dismantled and rebuilt it in 1967 on its original location, and added access roads and a picnic area.","period_of_significance":"19th Century; specific dates 1837-39 (construction)","architect_builder":"Original owners Chalon Guard and Leonard White; 1967 reconstruction by the Golconda Job Corps Center, U.S. Forest Service","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent. It was dismantled and reconstructed on the original location in 1967. Interpretive signs and a picnic site are provided nearby.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:34.407032-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/8929/28892960/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/73000704.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000704/eb5634cb57-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000704/eb5634cb57-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illinois_Iron_Furnace_from_south.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illinois_Iron_Furnace_from_south.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892960","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Iron_Furnace","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16846588"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/hardin-county/illinois-iron-furnace-73000704/"}