{"nrhp_refnum":"91001129","name":"Buchanan Furnace","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Off PA 378 at Clarion R., Licking Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Callensburg","county":"Clarion County","state":"PA","lat":41.13161892000005,"lon":-79.55857877699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-09-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Buchanan Furnace is a stone iron furnace, a charcoal-fired cold blast furnace with two tuyeres, on a flat grassy meadow on the north bank of the Clarion River near Callensburg, Clarion County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1844.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the furnace is significant under Criterion A for industry as a representative example of the westward expansion of the iron industry beyond the Alleghenies. It also cites Criterion C for engineering, describing it as the most intact iron furnace stack in Clarion County and as demonstrating the mason's craftsmanship.","narrative":"Buchanan Furnace is a charcoal-fired iron furnace standing in an open meadow on the north bank of the Clarion River, about three-fifths of a mile north of Callensburg in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. Built in 1844, it had two tuyeres, a nine-foot bosh, and a stack about 33 feet high, with a maximum production of 1,200 tons a year. Its operators in 1850 were S. F. Plummer and F. G. Crary of Kittaning and Arnold Plummer of Franklin, and Crary became sole proprietor by 1857. The furnace was blown out for good in 1858, when the declining economy and the exhaustion of nearby wood for charcoal led to its abandonment. It is significant for its place in the spread of ironmaking west of the Alleghenies, a period when much of Clarion County's thirty-one furnaces were built, most of them between 1840 and 1850. The stack is regarded as the most intact iron furnace stack in the county. Partial deterioration at the top and collapse above the tuyere arch are noted, but the four corners remain intact.","period_of_significance":"1844-1858","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Abandoned by 1858; the stack shows good integrity with some deterioration at the top, and the tuyere arch is in poor condition with partial masonry collapse.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:38.108702-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/91001129.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001129/51108d6f6e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001129/51108d6f6e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Henry M Hufnagel","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buchanan_Furnace_2006.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Henry M Hufnagel</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buchanan_Furnace_2006.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992774","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchanan_Furnace","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4982577"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/clarion-county/buchanan-furnace-91001129/"}