Scranton Iron Furnaces — Attraction in Scranton

The Scranton Iron Furnaces were built between 1848 and 1857, and are registered as a national historic site. The grounds consist of the remains of four iron furnaces, which at the time of their building were considered to be the largest of their type in America.

The ground preserve the history of iron making in the North Eastern Pennsylvania region, and explains how Scranton played a huge part of PA’s investment into metals.

By 1879, the campus had 7 iron furnaces working together, producing over 77,000 cubic feet of air per minute.

The iron furnaces were the heart of the iron making facility, and were lined with heat-resistant bricks known as refractory. The stacks were lined with alternating layers of iron ore, anthracite and limestone.

Throughout the year, the iron furnaces play host to various events, the listings of which you can find on their website. When events are not being hosted, the site remains open to the public for free, year round.

The site is centrally located, near Downtown Scranton, and at time of visiting, offered free parking.

This is a rich piece of Pennsylvania’s history and is certainly a fascinating place to visit. Don’t forget to stop at the nearby anthracite...

Historic site that could have been more enticing to explore. After visiting Steamtown (an NPS site and truly excellent) we drove to the iron furnances to learn more about its history. The upper portion was unexciting and there is no parking at the lower level. Vagrants sleeping up in the upper level (with an assortment of empty bottles and scattered clothing) made it less comfortable for families. The deserted lower levels (given the signs of vagrant storage) kept us from exploring further. Before we left, a police car arrived - but they only seemed interested in trying to observe driving infractions at the nearby intersection rather than addressing any issue(s) at this site. Won't be back to the site or to explore the city, as they seem locked in memories and can't see a way to honor their history while creating a way forward. We would have been better off finding something similar is a rural or more desolate setting. And local residents had better make sure they don't do any rolling stops - or they will targets...

Pretty cool place to visit! Free to enter on the park. Wasn’t there for long but was cool to read about the history and enjoy the area. There was a river so it felt nice out walking in the area. Could use some cleaning up, there was trash in some areas sadly. Saw a train going by for the locomotive event for the weekend. Last picture is from the Eckley Miners Village. It’s about an hour away, they have a museum there and the picture is furnaces...