Guide to the Records of the Dunbar Furnace, 1860-1911
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Records of the Dunbar Furnace
- Creator
- Dunbar Furnace
- Collection Number
- MSS# 45
- Extent
- 1.0 cubic feet (2 boxes)
- Date
- 1860-1911
- Abstract
- The Dunbar Furnace Company traces its history directly to the Union Furnace built by Isaac Meason in 1791 along the banks of the Dunbar Creek in Dunbar, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The Dunbar Furnace Company produced high grade and malleable pig iron, coke and silica sand. The furnace had a variety of owners during its early years including iron master Jacob Mathiot. These records include correspondence and financial records, primarily documenting two distinct periods in the company's history: the 1860s and 1910-1911.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History of the Dunbar Furnace Company (c1860-1912)
The Dunbar Furnace Company traces its history directly to the Union Furnace built by Isaac Meason in 1791 along the banks of the Dunbar Creek in Dunbar, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The Dunbar Furnace Company produced high grade and malleable pig iron, coke and silica sand. The furnace had a variety of owners during its early years including iron master Jacob Mathiot. Just prior to the Civil War, the furnace was sold to the Youghiogheny Iron and Coal Company, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Youghiogheny Iron and Coal Company moved the original furnace 300 feet closer to the Dunbar Creek and resumed operations. The new furnace had a stack 50 feet high and the capacity of making 15 to 18 tons of iron per day. During this period, W. H. Wheeler and Henry Keller, served as superintendents of the company and H. B. Leach served as the treasurer out of the main offices in Philadelphia. Like many companies after the Civil War, the Youghiogheny Iron and Coal Company faced numerous financial troubles stemming from dwindling orders and a greater strain on the availability of raw materials. However, the Furnace was able to remain open through this period. In 1869, the company changed its name from the Youghiogheny Iron and Coal Company to the Dunbar Iron Company. In 1876, the company changed its name once again to the Dunbar Furnace Company. The Furnace ceased operations sometime between 1911 and 1914, when the site was sold to the American Manganese Manufacturing Company. In 1934, the blast furnaces at the site of Dunbar Furnace were torn down.
Scope and Content Notes
These records include correspondence and financial records, primarily documenting two distinct periods in the company's history: the 1860s and 1910-1911. During these periods, these records provide thorough accounts of the day-to-day concerns of the Dunbar Furnace Company including information on employees, transportation of raw and finished materials, and financial operations. Early correspondence primarily includes incoming correspondence from the Philadelphia office and documents the precarious financial situation of the Company. Also included with the early correspondence is material of a personal nature relating directly to Dunbar employees, transportation concerns, and correspondence from agent Samuel M. Wickersham, a Metal and Iron Broker of Pittsburgh. Later correspondence examines everyday concerns and includes numerous incoming letters from Shimer and Company of Pittsburgh, agents for Dunbar Furnace's products. Among the later correspondence is material relating to the purchase of ore from Chile once the Panama Canal opened on February 1, 1991. A letter from Public Notary Pasquale Bufano of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, with letterhead depicting the building signs in Italian, commenting on the fair treatment that an employee received in payment owed by Dunbar Furnace, and discussions of potential land purchases for additional mining. Financial records primarily document the early years of the Company and include bills, shipping documents, and dividend coupons. Companies prominent among these financial documents are the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Rail Road Company, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and numerous steel manufacturers.
Arrangement
The Dunbar Furnace Records are housed in two archival boxes and are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in one accession in 1934.
Acc# 1934x Gift of Louis Medora, (Records. Mr. Medora salvaged these records during the destruction of the two blast furnaces at Dunbar, Pa.).
Preferred Citation
Records of the Dunbar Furnace, 1860-1911, MSS# 45, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Western Pennsylvania Historical Society Survey Staff in c1933. Records rearranged and inventory rewritten by Erin Clougherty on September 15, 1993.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Doug MacGregor on May 16, 2001.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Subjects
- Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
- Pennsylvania Railroad
- Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad
- Shimer and Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.).
- Youghiogheny Iron and Coal Company (Dunbar, Pa.).
- Wickersham, Samuel M.
- Wheeler, W. H.
- Leach, H. B.
- Dunbar (Pa.) -- Businesses
- Fayette County (Pa.) -- Businesses
- Fayette County (Pa.) -- Social Life and Customs
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1961-1865 -- War Work
- Blast Furnaces -- Pennsylvania -- Fayette County
- Coal Trade -- Pennsylvania
- Coke Industry -- Pennsylvania -- Fayette County
- Iron Industry and Trade -- Pennsylvania -- Fayette County
- Iron-works--Pennsylvania -- Fayette County
- Italian Americans -- Pennsylvania -- Fayette County
- Railroads -- Pennsylvania
- Transportation -- Pennsylvania
- Panama Canal (Panama).