The Centre County Historical Society is restoring the Centre Furnace in College Township just outside of State College for the first time in more than 60 years.
Roger Williams, the president of the Centre County Historical Society, said the stone structure was originally built in 1792 and turned the region into one of the country’s leading hubs of ironmaking.
“The wealth it produced made the iron masters extremely wealthy, and it created thousands of jobs for the local economy," Williams said. "So, the iron industry was very significant. It was Centre County’s first major industry.”
The furnace shut down, reopened and changed ownership a couple of times over the following decades.
Then, in 1855, the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society was looking for a place to start what they would call the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania. According to Williams, the wealth the furnace generated allowed its ironmasters to advocate for the school to be in Centre County.
“The wealth allowed the iron masters to make a gift of 200 acres of free land (and) create the Farmers’ High School, which of course is now the Pennsylvania State University," Williams said.
The furnace was last renovated in 1963 when inmates from the State Correctional Institution at Rockview trained in masonry repaired the structure.
Williams said current renovations to the furnace include restoring the masonry joints, removing plants growing through the structure’s cracks and sealing the furnace from water damage.
Renovating Centre Furnace is the Centre County Historical Society’s third major recent renovation project, following renovations at the Centre Furnace Mansion and the Boogersburg School. All three projects total to around $850,000 of donations and fundraising.
Renovations to the furnace are expected to be completed in the next two weeks.
“We’ll have a bright, shiny Centre Furnace for everybody to see and visit," Williams said.
