List of preserved historic blast furnaces facts for kids

A blast furnace is a huge oven used to make iron from iron ore. This list tells you about old blast furnaces that are no longer used but have been saved so people can visit them. They are often part of a park, museum, or a place open to the public.

For a long time, when a blast furnace stopped working, it was usually torn down. Sometimes a new, better one was built in its place, or the whole area was cleared for something else. But in recent years, many countries have realized that these old furnaces are important parts of their industrial history. They show us how things were made in the past.

One of the first blast furnaces saved from being torn down is in Starachowice, Poland. It stopped working in 1968. Then came the last blast furnace of Yahata Steel Works in Yahatahigashi-ku, Kitakyūshū, Japan, which closed in 1972. After that, the "Carrie Furnaces" in Homestead, Pennsylvania, United States, were saved in 1978. A blast furnace in Neunkirchen, Germany, which closed in 1982, was the first one worldwide to be not just saved, but also fixed up specifically to be preserved.

Modern blast furnaces from the 20th century were huge and made a lot of iron. How they are preserved can be different. Some are kept almost exactly as they were, while others are changed a bit or used for new things. It's common to see them lit up with colorful lights at night!

Historic Blast Furnaces from Before Mass Production

These are older blast furnaces, built before the huge industrial ones. They often used charcoal as fuel.

Australia's Old Ironworks

City and State	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Lal Lal, Victoria	Lal Lal Iron Company	This furnace was built in 1880 and worked until 1884. It's now part of a historic area.		Parks Victoria
Beaconsfield, Tasmania	Ilfracombe Iron Company	Built in 1873, this furnace was abandoned in 1874. Its ruins are on private land.		None
Bookham, New South Wales	Bogolong iron mine and blast furnace	This furnace was built in 1873–1874 and only worked for a short time in 1874. Its ruins are on private land but you can see parts of it from a public road.		NSW Heritage Database

Austria's Preserved Furnaces

Brazil's Iron History

City	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Ipanema, Iperó, Sao Paulo	Fábrica de Ferro de São João do Ipanema	Three blast furnaces are here. Two were built in 1817 and one in 1884. They stopped working in 1926 and opened to the public in 1994, now part of a national forest.

Finland's Industrial Past

Germany's Iron Landmarks

City	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Völklingen, Saarland	The Völklingen Ironworks (Völklinger Hütte)	This was a major ironworks with 6 blast furnaces. It was the only one to survive World War II without serious damage. In 1994, UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site. Today, it's a museum where you can learn about making iron. You can tour the production areas and see huge machines.		Völklinger Hütte
Between Grünebach and Alsdorf, Rhineland-Palatinate	Neugrünebacher Hütte	This historic blast furnace stopped working in 1963 and was protected as a monument in 1983.
Wenden, Sauerland, North Rhine-Westphalia	Wendener Hütte	This furnace stopped working in 1866. The building that holds the blast furnace is now a museum.		[2]
Balve, Sauerland, North Rhine-Westphalia	Luisenhütte Wocklum	This furnace stopped working in 1865. The building with the oldest completely preserved blast furnace in Germany became a protected monument in 1950. It reopened as a museum in 2006 after a big renovation.
Bockenem-Bornum, Ambergau, Lower Saxony	Wilhelmshütte	This historic blast furnace, built in 1783, stopped working in 1966 and opened to the public in 1982 as a museum.

Poland's Industrial Heritage

City	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Chlewiska, Gmina Chlewiska, Szydłowiec County, Mazowieckie Voivodeship	Iron Works in Chlewiska	Built between 1882 and 1892, this ironworks stopped in 1940. It's now part of the Museum of Technology and open to visitors.
Kuźniaki, Gmina Strawczyn, Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship	Metallurgical Furnace in Kuźniaki	This furnace stopped working in 1897. The building that holds the blast furnace is now a historical monument and open to visitors.
Samsonów, Gmina Zagnańsk, Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship	Huta Józef	This furnace stopped working in 1866. It was declared a historical monument in 1967 and opened to visitors in 1983.

Romania's Blast Furnaces

City	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Govăjdia, Hunedoara County	Blast Furnace in Govăjdia	Built between 1806 and 1810, this furnace stopped working in 1924. It's famous for providing iron for the Eiffel Tower in Paris! It became a historical monument in 2000 and opened to visitors in 2007.

Slovakia's Old Furnaces

Ukraine's Historic Furnaces

County	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Between villages of Yasen’ and Hryn’kiw, Kalush Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.		A charcoal blast furnace built in 1810. It worked until 1818. It might be the oldest historical blast furnace in Ukraine.
Village Maidan, Drohobych Raion, Lviv oblast		A charcoal blast furnace built in 1814, it was 9.48 meters tall.		[11]
Village Mihove, Vyzhnytsia Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast		A charcoal blast furnace built in 1835, it was 14 meters tall.

United Kingdom's Iron Heritage

England's Furnaces

County	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Cumbria	Newland Furnace	A charcoal blast furnace built in 1747. It worked until 1891. You can visit it on special open days or by appointment.		[12]
Cumbria	Backbarrow Furnace	Built as a charcoal blast furnace in 1711. It worked until 1966. It's on private land but you can see it from the road.
Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria	Duddon furnace	A charcoal blast furnace that worked from 1736 to 1867. It's managed by the Cumbria Tourist Board.		[13]
Telford, Shropshire	Blists Hill	The remains of three 19th-century blast furnaces are here. They were built in 1832 and worked until 1912. They are part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.		IGMT
	Coalbrookdale	Originally a charcoal furnace, this old blast furnace was used by Abraham Darby I in 1709 to make iron using coke. This was a big step in iron production! It's now part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust's Museum of Iron.		IGMT
	Madeley Wood or Bedlam	Two blast furnaces stand by the River Severn. They were built in 1756 and worked until 1912. They used water wheels powered by steam engines. The site is owned by Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
The Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire	Darkhill Ironworks	These are very important remains related to how iron and steel were developed. Built in 1818, this site saw many important discoveries in making iron and steel.
	Whitecliff Ironworks	These are the remains of a furnace that used coke, built in 1798. It's part of the history of iron making in the Forest of Dean.
	Parkend Ironworks	This was a coke-fired furnace built in 1799. Most of it was torn down, but the engine house survived and is one of the best preserved in the UK.

Scotland's Furnaces

County	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Argyllshire	Bonawe or Lorn Furnace	A charcoal furnace that worked from 1753 to 1876.		Historic Iron Furnace
Argyllshire	Argyll or Craleckan or Goatfield Furnace, Furnace	A charcoal furnace that worked from 1755 to 1812. The furnace building is by the road in the village of Furnace. You can see it from the road, but can't go inside.

Wales's Iron Sites

County	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Ceredigion	Dyfi Furnace	A charcoal blast furnace near the west coast of Wales, built in 1755. It worked until 1805 and is now preserved by Cadw.
Monmouthshire	Tintern Furnace	This is an excavated site of a charcoal blast furnace. It's now a tourist attraction and was part of a group of ironworks in the valley.
Torfaen	Blaenavon Ironworks	An ironworks that used coke, working from 1789 to 1903. It's now preserved by Cadw and is a World Heritage Site.
Neath Port Talbot	Neath Abbey Ironworks	Remains of two furnaces built in 1792.

United States's Early Furnaces

City and State	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Cartersville, Georgia	Cooper Iron Works	Built by Mark Anthony Cooper in 1847.		Cooper's Furnace
Clifton Forge, Alleghany County, Virginia	Clifton Furnace	This site started working around 1825. The charcoal furnace you see now was built in 1846 and worked until 1854. It was renovated in 1874 but closed for good in 1877.		[14]
Saugus, Massachusetts	Saugus Ironworks	An early ironworks from the 1600s. It was dug up and rebuilt in the 1950s. It's now a National Historic Site managed by the National Park Service.		NPS
Fayette, Michigan	Jackson Iron Company	A charcoal blast furnace that worked from 1867 to 1891. It's now part of Fayette Historic State Park.		Fayette Historic State Park
Cornwall, Pennsylvania	Cornwall Iron Furnace	A charcoal blast furnace that worked from 1742 to 1883. It has been preserved since 1932.		Cornwall Iron Furnace
Elverson, Pennsylvania	Hopewell Furnace	A charcoal-fired furnace that worked from around 1771 to 1883. It's a National Historic Site where you can see how iron was made. They sometimes have demonstrations.		Hopewell Furnace NHS
Robeson Twp., Pennsylvania	Joanna Furnace	This furnace worked from 1791 to 1898. It used charcoal and water power, then steam power. They have demonstrations of hand casting and other old machines.		www.haycreek.org
Rosiclare, Illinois	Illinois Iron Furnace	This furnace worked from 1838-1861 and again from 1868 to 1883. It was used to melt iron ore found nearby. The iron was then sent down the Ohio River. The area is now a picnic spot with information about the furnace.		Shawnee National Forest web site

Preserved Modern Blast Furnaces Around the World

These are the bigger, more industrial blast furnaces, mostly from the 20th century. They have metal frames, used hot air from special "Cowper stoves," and were part of huge factories with many furnaces working together. Raw materials came in by train, and the freshly made iron was carried away in special buckets called ladles.

Often, when these big factories were turned into museums, some parts were removed to make them easier to take care of. The idea was to keep just one or two blast furnaces and their important parts (like the Cowper stoves and buildings) so visitors could understand how they worked.

The very first modern blast furnace that was saved instead of being torn down is in Starachowice, Poland. It stopped working way back in 1968.

Czech Republic's Industrial Park

City	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Ostrava-Vítkovice, Moravian-Silesian Region	Vítkovice Area	This site used to be the Vítkovice Iron and Steel Works, which closed in 1998. It's now an industrial heritage site being rebuilt for new uses, but you can visit it by booking ahead. Three blast furnaces are saved, along with their Cowper stoves and buildings. At night, colorful lights shine on the whole factory. They are trying to get it recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.		[15]

France's Preserved Furnace

City	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Uckange, Moselle, Lorraine	Parc du Haut-Fourneau	This furnace stopped working in 1991 and opened to the public in 2007 as part of a park. One blast furnace (U4) is preserved, including its Cowper stoves. Colorful lights light up the factory at night.		[16]

Germany's Industrial Parks

City and Region	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Dortmund, Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia	Phoenix-West	This area is becoming a modern technology center. Some old ironworks buildings will be used, and others will become a museum. One blast furnace is saved, and another is partly taken apart, but its frame and Cowper stoves remain. You can visit on guided tours along a "Skywalk." Colorful lights sometimes light up the plant.		[17]
Duisburg, Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia	Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord	This old ironworks site, which closed in 1985, is now a public park that uses the old buildings with few changes. Three complete blast furnaces are preserved. One building is now a hall for events and a summer movie theater. Another building is a climbing garden for kids. You can go up blast furnace 5 for amazing views. Colorful lights light up the whole park at night on weekends.		[18]
Hattingen, Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia	Henrichshütte	This ironworks closed in 1987 and became a museum in 2000. One complete blast furnace is preserved. It's painted to prevent rust. This blast furnace is a main part of the museum, with information and films. You can go up it for views using an elevator. Colorful lights light it up at night.		[19]
Neunkirchen, Saarland	Altes Hüttenareal Neunkirchen	The remains of this ironworks, which closed in 1982, are now part of a public park. New buildings like pubs and a movie theater are built around the old structures. Two blast furnaces are preserved and painted to prevent rust. You can visit blast furnace 6 on guided tours. Colorful lights light up the whole area at night.		[20]
Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Bavaria	Maxhütte	This steel mill closed in 2002. Many parts are being torn down, but a small area with the blast furnace is being saved. It's not open to the public yet. One blast furnace remains.
Völklingen, Saarland	Völklingen Ironworks	This ironworks closed in 1986 and became a museum. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Six blast furnaces are preserved. You can go up them for views. Colorful lights light up the whole factory at night.		[21]

Japan's Steel History

City and Prefecture	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Yahatahigashi-ku, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyūshū Island	Higashida Blast Furnace Memorial Square	This site used to be Yahata Steel Works, which closed in 1972. It's now a museum that opened in 1997. You can even go inside the blast furnace! One blast furnace is preserved and painted to prevent rust. Lights illuminate the site at night.		[22]

Luxembourg's Industrial Site

City	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Esch-sur-Alzette	Esch Belval	This site closed in 1997 and is being turned into a new area for many uses. Two blast furnaces have been preserved.		[23]

Mexico's Park and Museum

City and Country	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Monterrey	Fundidora Park (Parque Fundidora)	This steel mill closed in 1986 and became a public park in 1988. One blast furnace is a museum. Two blast furnaces are preserved. Blast furnace 3 is a museum where you can go up for views using an elevator. The whole factory is lit up at night. They are trying to get blast furnaces 1 and 3 recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.		[24]

Poland's Ecomuseum

City and Province	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Starachowice, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship	Museum of Nature and Technology Ekomuseum Jana Pazdura	This furnace closed in 1968 and opened as a museum in 2000. One blast furnace is preserved.		[25]

Romania's Active Steel Mill

City	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Reșița, Caraș-Severin County	Inside TMK Reșița	Blast furnace number 2, built between 1959 and 1962, closed in 1991. It's now a historical monument. You can't visit it because it's inside an active steel mill, but you can see it well from outside.

Russian Federation's Museums

City and Province	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk Oblast	Nizhny Tagil Museum-Reserve of Mining and Metallurgy of the Middle Urals	This steel mill closed in 1987 and became part of a museum in 1992. Two blast furnaces are preserved.		[26]
Polevskoy, Sverdlovsk Oblast	Museum Complex "Seversky Blast Furnace"	This blast furnace was built in 1860, rebuilt in 1896, and turned into a museum in the 1980s.	[27]	[28]

Spain's Preserved Furnaces

Place and Province	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Puerto de Sagunto, Sagunto, Camp de Morvedre, Valencia	Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo	This furnace closed in 1984. One blast furnace is preserved and is planned to become a museum, like the Völklingen Ironworks.		[29]
Sestao, Biscay, Basque Country	Altos Hornos de Vizcaya	This furnace closed in 1996. One blast furnace is preserved, including its frame, winch house, and Cowper stoves.

United States's Industrial Landmarks

City and State	Name of Location	What's There Now	Photo	Official Website
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	Bethlehem Steel	This huge steel plant closed in 1995. Now, a casino hotel is on the site. Five blast furnaces are still standing. They were meant to be part of a museum, but plans changed.		[30]
Rankin, Pennsylvania	Carrie Furnace	These two blast furnaces, which closed in 1978, are preserved. You can visit them on guided tours. There are plans for them to be part of a national park.
Birmingham, Alabama	Sloss Furnaces	This blast furnace made iron from 1882 to 1971. Two blast furnaces are preserved. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1981. Today, it's a museum about industry and also hosts concerts and festivals.		[31]