New Hamburg Historical Area

The New Hamburg Historical Area covers about 159 acres at the site of the former village of New Hamburg in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. The village grew along the Erie Extension Canal after its first store opened in 1840, and its residents shipped coal from the area to Erie as fuel for lake freighters. The Hamburg Iron Furnace, on the right bank of the Shenango River, was built by the Mills and Lowry Company in 1846. It was connected to the canal town by a railroad, and its bed, a canal loading bay, a grist mill's mill race, a canal lock site and the canal and towpath remain visible. Several canal-era building foundations have also been located, including the remains of a canal official's dwelling. The furnace and village are historically important as early iron production that preceded Western Pennsylvania's steel industry. The canal was abandoned on September 5, 1871, after an aqueduct collapsed and a railroad was built nearby, and the community declined.