Monroe Furnace
The pin is a point inside the NPS boundary polygon, not a surveyed location.
Why it's listed
Monroe Furnace is a charcoal iron plantation in McAlevys Fort, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, where a blast furnace was established in 1846-47 by General James Irvin, a prominent Centre County ironmaster. The furnace stack is about 20 feet high and 30 feet square at the base, built of cut native sandstone with large corner stones. Its three arches include a 14-foot casting arch on the east and a 12-foot tuyere arch on the north. Foundations of fourteen workers' houses lie along the road to Mooresville. In 1850 Irvin employed 50 men and produced 958 tons of pig iron. Economic depression in the mid-1850s forced his retirement in 1857. George W. Johnston & Co. of Boalsburg later bought the works around 1855 and ran a stove foundry there. The site is regarded as significant for its evidence of a short-lived, sporadic iron operation and the layout of its workers' housing.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to represent the charcoal iron industry in Huntingdon County under criterion A. The foundation remains of workers' housing are said to hold information on worker housing size, spatial arrangement, and the development of iron plantations under criterion D. The stack and slag may also clarify the short, sporadic nature of production at the site.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 89001818, listed November 13, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Jct. PA 26 and Legislative Rt. 31076, 6 mi. NW of McAlevys Fort, McAlevys Fort |
|---|---|
| County | Huntingdon County |
| Listed | November 13, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89001818 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1847-1864 |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Historic - Non-Aboriginal |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The furnace stack is overgrown and partly collapsed at the northeast corner, and its casting area has been obscured by highway drainage cinders. |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Coordinates | 40.69538, -77.89466 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 89001818.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6902199
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.