{"nrhp_refnum":"73001243","name":"Southfield Furnace Ruin","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"S of Monroe off NY 17","address_restricted":false,"city":"Monroe","county":"Orange County","state":"NY","lat":41.253871108000055,"lon":-74.19391722799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-11-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The ruins of an early nineteenth-century iron furnace complex in a wooded area beside a stream on the north side of the Old Orange Turnpike (County Route 19), Town of Tuxedo, Orange County, New York. Construction began about 1804 and the furnace was abandoned in 1887.","why_significant":"The remains illustrate the iron-making industry that was once common in Orange County and southern New York, and little evidence of comparable industrial sites survives. The works, run by the Peter Townsend family, produced stamped iron and saw early experiments, including the first blistered steel and the first cannon cast in New York State from Long Mine ore.","narrative":"Deep in the woods beside a rushing stream, the ruins of Southfield Furnace mark a once busy ironworks begun around 1804 and abandoned in 1887. Surviving parts include the four-sided furnace stack with its brick lining, the twin arches of the charging bridge, the bellows area, traces of the water race, portions of the casting room with brick arches, and a single wall of the foundry building. The furnace was part of a self-sufficient community that also had an iron master's house, blacksmith shop, store, grist mill, barns and a railroad spur. The Peter Townsend family built and ran the works, which made stamped iron. In 1810 Peter Townsend II produced the first blistered steel made in New York State, and in 1816 the first cannon cast in the state from Long Mine ore. Fuel changed from charcoal to anthracite in 1868 and coke in 1880. The last blast came in September 1887, and the ruins remain among the best local illustrations of this industry.","period_of_significance":"c. 1804-1887 (dates of operation)","architect_builder":"Built and managed by the Peter Townsend family","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Ruins in a wooded area; privately owned and listed as unoccupied. The furnace stack lining is in fairly good condition, and the casting room walls and charging bridge arches partly stand.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.96439-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/73001243.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001243/a10b156b95-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001243/a10b156b95-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Zeete","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southfield_Furnace_Ruin,_NY_-_looking_north.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Zeete</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southfield_Furnace_Ruin,_NY_-_looking_north.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320746","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southfield_Furnace_Ruin","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q67762643"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/orange-county/southfield-furnace-ruin-73001243/"}