Williamsburg, Pa. - A Hometown History Project
 

After taking John around the other day and showing him some of our sights, I have decided to show you all some of our local color. We are a small town but have a big history.

One of the sights i showed John, we fished just down stream from it, about 50 yards, was an old iron smelting furnace. Pa. used to be the seat of all the iron making in our country when it was a young country. At one point there were 500 furnaces going at once in Pa.

This is one of three similar furnaces that helped build Williamsburg in its early years. Originally called "Royer Furnace" after its founder, Dan Royer, Its now known as "Springfield Furnace" after the last Co. that operated it. Built in the 1820's it stopped being used in 1872. I took these shots this past spring before the green came on and its still hard to see whats left of it.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...ldFurnace1.jpg

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...ldFurnace2.jpg

This is a view of the same furnace in operation in 1870. Its hard to tell but the furnace is hid behind the triangular shaped building right of center in the pic. Almost all of this erea is covered in trees now. With the exception that there is a modern bridge over the creek where the old one is and the building in the upper lefthand corner is still there.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...ation-1870.jpg

Here are three pics, starting at the front of the house and working around the back to the other side, of the original owner of the above furnace, Dan Royer's house. Built in 1810 it is lovingly maintained and cared for. It is also reputedly haunted as well. Its also frequently used as a weekend campout/drilling outing for Civil War Re-Enactors.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...erMansion1.jpg

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...erMansion2.jpg

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...erMansion3.jpg

Here are three pics of the "Mt. Etna Furnace". Its an erea outside of Williamsburg, haha, I know what your thinking, thats what it was named after.

This one is the one thats in the best shape. It has some wood and steel cable support systems to prevent it from falling apart and thus its in pretty good shape. Take note of Brandi in the first pic as a size reference. She is 5'8" tall so you'll get a pretty good idea just how massive the things really are/were.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...naFurnace1.jpg

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...naFurnace2.jpg

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...naFurnace3.jpg

More to come soon!

My Brother has taken a 3 week vacation out west and has borrowed my camera. When he gets back ill continue on.
:withoutpics:

Great pics, Kent. Where did your brother go on vacation? Which states? I love the West.

He is taking a train trip up the west coast from somewhere near L.A., through Canada and on to Alaska. Then back down to Seattle, and then from Seattle back across the northern states to Altoona, which you know is just a 15 min ride to home.

FYI - He works for the RailRoads here in Pa. and got a good deal on this vacation package, 3 weeks in all. He didnt tell me what it cost but he told me i wouldnt belive him if he did. My brother is also the cheapest person ive ever met. He'd give Mr. Scrooge a run for his money, so if he went on this trip he had to of gotten a great deal, LOL. You probably figured that out when he had to borrow a camera from me, hehe.

Back with a few images.

The Iron Furnaces I mentioned above produced an interesting looking {once it cooled and dried} waste product called slag. Because of the different mix of unused minerals in the Iron ore mined in each location, combined with water taken from different sources for each furnace, each furnace produced a brightly colored slag.

Here is a sample from the Royer/Springfield Furnace -
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...gfieldSlag.jpg

You'll notice the colors range from dark green to light green. I have some pieces that are colored in an almost seafoam green color but they are rare.

Here is a piece from the furnace from the Point View area of Williamsburg{furnace not pictured in this thread} -
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...MtEtnaSlag.jpg

As you can see, this slag ranges from light to a deep indigo blue. I do have a few hard to find sky blue pieces.

The other furnace out at Mt. Etna has Red, Black & Orange slag. It is quite strikingly beautiful. Because of that, it has been picked clean and is hard to find and i dont have any pictures of any. I will try to locate some and get a pic. As for the other stuff, John can attest to this, its lying everywhere, just bend over and pick it up.

For years around the countries bicentennial in 1976, there was a little cottage industry in Williamsburg making jewlery out of this slag. My one sister has a brooch made out of the red/orange/black slag that is very stunning.

More to come...

The following pics are from a booklet that was printed up when Wilmer Stultz,{from my hometown and pilot of the plane "Friendship", which took Amelia Earhart across the Atlantic as the first woman to do so} and Amelia Earhart came to Williamsburg to celebrate their historic flight.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...nirBooklet.jpg

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...rAmeliaLou.jpg

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...Friendship.jpg

A pin of Wilmer Stultz

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...rStultzPin.jpg

For all of you, but especially John, as he asked me about all the loose rock on the Mt. and ridge tops around my hometown, here is a video i found on YouTube of someone who has hiked to the top of the the "Point View", a few miles before you get into town on Rt. 866. You'll remember John that it is the spot right up the road from where you turn off of Rt.22 & get onto Rt. 866. He'll actually zoom in on it and you'll get to see it & Williamsburg from up there. Its pretty cool and thought you might like to see it. The rest of you guys will get to see how tiny my town is from a far off birds eye view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IWEv3v-iKo

About 10 or 12 years ago, my Brother Dave, my Brandi & I bought a print of an old map of Williamsburg off of E-Bay. Its about 3' by about 3 1/2' roughly and was done in 1906. We got Brandi's brother to make a few copies. This one is extremely high quality. All these years later we finally decided to get it professionally mounted & framed. The wooden frame has worm holes and the border is a burnt red/wine color to go with the sepia tone of the map. It turned out quite stunningly. The guys at the Film Centers Custom Frame shop in Altoona did an unbelivable job.

In the late 1800's, ealy 1900's, several famous traveling artists would travel the county making these 3/4 birds eye view Map/Drawings of towns and cities all over the country and then when finished they would sell them to the boro or city & citizens ect. and then move on to the next town. Another lost artform to the age of technology.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...DSC_0004-1.jpg