The Carrie Furnace

The Carrie Furnace, located in Rankine, PA,  is a blast furnace that was used in iron production.  It was built in 1881, and from 1907 to 1978 was able to produce up to 1250 tons of iron daily.  The site, which at one time contained 7 separate blast furnaces, was bought by Andrew Carnegie in 1888 and was subsequently acquired by US Steel in 1901.  In 1988 it was purcahsed by the Park Corporation and both Park and US Steel were to remediate environmental concerns. In 2005, Allegheny County bought the entire site from Park and there are hopes to develop it into a national historic landmark.

The site is closed to the general public, and only furnaces 6 and 7 remain.   However, I was able to go on a tour of the facility and take some photos (hand held).  What remains is truly the 'stuff' of industrial abstract imagery.

For more historical information see here.

Carrie Furnace

Copyright Howard Grill