Rivers of Steel NHA Breathes Life into Historic Foundry

Blacksmiths demonstrate their skill with metal and fire at the Hammer-In Festival.

Rivers of Steel NHA Photo

Rices Landing, PA (May 15, 2019) – Each April, a historic building in southwestern Pennsylvania comes alive with the clanging of metal clanging and hissing of steam as Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area welcomes visitors to the annual Hammer-In Festival.

The Machine Shop made a variety of products, including gears for locomotives and canal locks.

Rivers of Steel NHA Photo

Last month, the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop in Rices Landing hosted the 31st annual Hammer-In Festival. Blacksmiths from all over southwestern Pennsylvania and the Appalachian region fired up the Machine Shop’s equipment—dating from 1870 to 1920—and demonstrated their metal crafting skills to the public at this free event.

Built in 1900, the Young Machine Shop was a family-owned “job shop” that produced custom-made tools and metal parts for their clients. Job shops filled an important niche at a time when industrial products were increasingly made in mass production facilities. During its 65 years of operation, the Young family ran the shop by themselves, with the exception of a period during World War II when 30 employees (including women) worked there to meet wartime demand.

Now a National Historic Landmark, the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop is a prime example of a small family-run “job shop” from the early 20th century.

Photo courtesy of Brian Kutner

As the times changed, so did the shop. The family switched from steam power to electricity in 1928, sold gasoline to motorists before gas stations were established, and turned the second floor into a hardware store.

However, in 1965, the Young Machine Shop finally closed its doors. For two decades, it sat abandoned as its buildings deteriorated. Eventually, the Greene County Historical Society purchased the property and began stabilization work. In 2006, Rivers of Steel took responsibility for the Machine Shop. Since then, the shop has undergone extensive restoration to bring it back to its earlier condition. Rivers of Steel worked to get the Young Machine Shop designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016, recognizing it as one of the best-preserved examples of a small industrial machine shop in the nation.

The yearly Hammer-In Festival allows locals and visitors to not only get a glimpse of history at work as the blacksmiths heat and hammer metal into shape, but also to purchase examples of the final products. Some of the proceeds from the sale of work are used for continued preservation of the building and its history. The Young Machine Shop will continue to play an important role in telling the story of the industrial heritage of Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

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