{"nrhp_refnum":"91001139","name":"Rockland Furnace","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"On Shull Run N of the Allegheny R., NW of Emlenton","address_restricted":false,"city":"Emlenton","county":"Venango County","state":"PA","lat":41.23414319700004,"lon":-79.74891418799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-09-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Engineering"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Rockland Furnace is a stone iron furnace with its adjoining race and wheel pit, located on the west bank of Shull Run about a quarter mile from its confluence with the Allegheny River in Venango County, Pennsylvania. The furnace stack is roughly 25 feet square and 25 feet tall, built of cut stone.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the furnace is a representative example of the westward expansion of the Pennsylvania iron industry, and one of the most intact iron furnaces in Western Pennsylvania and the best preserved in Venango County. It is also significant for engineering, as the furnace and its surviving race and wheel pit demonstrate the distinctive characteristics of their type. The property is said to retain good integrity although no specific preservation efforts have been made.","narrative":"Rockland Furnace is a cut-stone iron furnace built in 1832 on the west bank of Shull Run, about a quarter mile above its meeting with the Allegheny River in Venango County. Its stack stands roughly 25 feet square and 25 feet tall, with a cast arch and a tuyere arch facing the stream, and it sits on the wooded valley floor below a cliff that once supported the charging ramp. Beside it lie a well-preserved race, running about 50 feet from the stream, and a wheel pit that powered the blast. The furnace was built by Andrew McCaslin and later operated by several firms, most notably the Davis brothers, until it was blown out in 1854. It is regarded as representative of the westward spread of Pennsylvania's iron industry and, for its engineering, as one of the most intact furnaces in Western Pennsylvania. Little has happened on the site since 1854.","period_of_significance":"1832-1854","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"No activity at the site since the furnace was blown out in 1854; the furnace is substantially intact but shows some deterioration, including a bow in the northeast facade and tree growth on the stack.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:13:33.887383-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/91001139.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001139/0fc3be43a5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001139/0fc3be43a5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Thefulgurator","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rockland_Furnace.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Thefulgurator</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:Rockland_Furnace.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993967","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockland_Furnace","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7355445"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/venango-county/rockland-furnace-91001139/"}