{"nrhp_refnum":"91001143","name":"Wharton Furnace","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Wharton Furnace--Hull Rd. S of US 40, Wharton Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hopwood","county":"Fayette County","state":"PA","lat":39.82569238600007,"lon":-79.63800155999996,"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":"Wharton Furnace is a stone charcoal iron furnace on Chaney Run about six miles east of Uniontown in Hopwood, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, situated at the edge of Forbes State Forest. It was constructed in 1837 by Andrew Stewart.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the furnace represents the westward expansion of the Pennsylvania iron industry and is a representative example of cold blast charcoal furnaces later retrofitted for hot blast. It is also described as the best preserved iron furnace in Fayette County, with its race, wheel pit and wheel house foundations adding to its importance.","narrative":"Built in 1837 by Andrew Stewart on Chaney Run in what is now Hopwood, Fayette County, Wharton Furnace is a stone charcoal iron furnace roughly 31 feet high, with a casting floor arch, a tuyere arch, and an east wheel pit and raceway still in place. It was placed in blast in 1839 and leased to operators including John D. Crea and J. Kennedy Duncan, who employed Alexander Clair as manager. Production halted before 1850, but wartime demand during the Civil War led to renewed operation, and the works supplied cannon balls for the Union Army. Isolated from railroads and water transport, the furnace failed after the war and was blown out by 1872. It is regarded as an important example of the western spread of Pennsylvania ironmaking, and the surviving structure is considered the best preserved iron furnace in Fayette County. A 1961 restoration by local and historical groups helped preserve the site, which lies in a grassy park amid the forest.","period_of_significance":"1837-1872","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The furnace went out of blast before 1850, was refurbishment-restored in 1961, and is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.218562-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/91001143.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001143/a2858a84c4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001143/a2858a84c4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Generic1139","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wharton_Furnace_Fayette_County.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Generic1139</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:Wharton_Furnace_Fayette_County.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992935","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharton_Furnace","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7990714"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/fayette-county/wharton-furnace-91001143/"}