This iron ore was dug out of the Creek Hills in Westmoreland County. One can still see the large piles of earth which had to be removed in order to reach the ore, and the deep pits where the ore was taken out. For half a mile along the hill, excavations can be seen. One day while digging the ore a great mass of earth fell on some workmen killing them. They were buried along the border of the hill. Whether slaves were ever employed at this ironworks would be difficult to say, but slavery was yet common in Southwestern Pennsylvania when the furnace was in operation. When General George Washington built his mill near Perryopolis in Fayette County, he employed many slaves, and this was just a few years before the furnace was constructed. Washington's old mill stood less than 4 miles southwest of the ironworks. Colonel John Holker, who bought the furnace in 1797, lived in Virginia and probably had slaves, but whether he ever used them in operating the furnace would be interesting to know.
About half a mile above the furnace an old stone grist mill stood by the creek. The corn and wheat of the neighborhood were ground there while that region was the center of trade and work. One can still see where the dam was built. It is said that near the mill was a large stone house in which the superintendent of the iron works lived. Years afterwards, a band of counterfeiters occupied the place until they were captured by government officers. Nearly a mile below the furnace was erected one of the earliest salt works in Pennsylvania. Salt was made at this place during the time the furnace was in operation and for many years afterwards. The well was drilled at the edge of the creek, and now from the place flows a spring of clear water which is not fit to drink. However, almost every second great bubbles of gas rise to the surface of the water.
The people who worshipped the Catholic faith were buried in the Chapel graveyard on Chapel Hill, about 2 miles south of the furnace. It was in this churchyard that a man dug his own grave during the deadly epidemic of 1810. He was sent to the cemetery to dig a grave. Completing it sooner than he had expected, he dug another knowing that it would soon be occupied. He went home, suddenly took sick of the dreaded malady and died and was buried in his own grave. About a mile north of the furnace in Westmoreland County in a locust grove on a high hill, is the graveyard of the Protestants. The graves have shrunken all but one of the sandstone slabs which marked them are "Here lies the body of Daniel Guynn, aged 76. Died 1809."
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