Bullion Furnace, Venango County, Pennsylvania

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Bullion - is along Bullion Run in Clinton Township. Was built in 1840 by William Cross(evc). An ice gorge took off one side of the furnace in 1959, but the inner stack is complete and clearly visible. You can stand inside the stack and view out the top. A large piece of iron, probably a breakout, was in the run about 50 feet downstream from the furnace. It would weigh a ton or more. About 100 yards above the furnace is a house foundation(s&t). (P)(V)(rp-1977-2004,he-2003,is/dd-2004).
You can do a moderate and possibly wet hike to Bullion or follow a longer steeper but dry hike from the state game lands.
(1) From Kennerdell, on the Allegheny River, drive south across the bridge on SR3008. Continue along Scrubgrass Creek 0.6 miles to a bridge across Bullion Run. Park near here. N 41° 15.300' W079° 50.448'(he-2003)(rp-2004) Walk right, upstream of Bullion Run, and through a residential area, on the right bank of the run. Continue up the right bank until the hiking becomes difficult due to the hillside. Ford the creek at this point and continue up the left bank. At about a mile from the road the furnace will be on the far side of the run. You will need to ford one more time to reach the furnace, however the view of the furnace approaching upstream on the left bank is particularly striking.
GPS Location N 41º 15.480'" W079º 51.528' (he-2003)
(2) A second route to Bullion Furnace is from the top of the hill down to Bullion Run from the State Game Lands. Exit PA8 at the Bullion-Pearl exit PA308. Proceed NW toward Pearl. Turn right on to old Route 8 and go 0.4 miles to Pearl. Turn right on Dennison Run Road (listed as Dewoody Road on the PenDot county Map). Proceed 1.7 miles to a split where Dennison Run Road goes left and Dewoody Road goes right. 41° 16.625'N 79° 53.446'W. Proceed right on Dewoody Road to the State Game Lands #39 parking lot and park here. 41° 16.143'N 79° 52.325'W Walk south along a gated game lands access road about ¼ mile. A sign to the left points to Dennison Run/Bullion Run Iron Furnace Trails. Take this trail to the left and into the woods. The trail is clearly marked with signs and orange blazes. After about a mile you will come to the boundary of the game lands. Enter this area through the gate. Continue to the main trail intersection. Dennison Run Trail (with four suspension bridges) goes left. The Lookout Trail (to an Allegheny River overlook) goes straight ahead, and the Bullion Run Furnace Trail goes right and down a 300-400 foot elevation drop for about 1 mile to the furnace. (There is a geocache at 41° 15.533'N 79° 51.608'W in case you are interested).About 100 yards below the cache you hang a left to the furnace.
(Information about this route was submitted by Ian Straffin)(is)
Furnace GPS Location N 41º 15.480'" W079º 51.528' (he-2003)(is,dd,rp-2004)
Bullion Furnace - November 1977
Looking west upstream
Bullionm Furnace - November 1977
Looking north toward Hillside

Bullion Furnace - Novemver 1977
. Bullion Furnace Inner bosh
November 1977

Bullion Furnace - November 2004
Bullion Furnace - November 2004
Bullion Furnace Special Sources:
A Guide to the Old Stone Blast Furnaces of Western Pennsylvania, Myron B. Sharp and William H. Thomas (s&t)
Exploring Venango County prepared for the Venango County Bicentennial Commision, 1976(evc).
href="http://www.amkennerdell.com/sc.html">Scrubgrass Creek web site, , Anderson, Bullion, Jane Furnaces
J. A. Caldwell (hvc) publisher History of Venango County, by Edward (Kirke) White, 1879
The News Herald, Thur. Jul 27, 1978 (tnh)
Isaac Harris (pbd) publisher The Pittsburgh Business Directory, 1837
Hank Edenborn, Finleyville, PA
Ian Straffin, Meadville, PA
Dan & Chris Dundon, Erie, PA
Bill Frazier, Lake Hamilton, FL
Copyright © Richard Parks, January 22, 2010