Exploring Carrie Furnaces During the holiday season I spent some time with my family back in Pittsburgh. The weather in that part of the country hits its stride in early May and is enjoyable into October, but the winters can feel like a six-month purgatory. People spend lots of time inside, passing the time as we wait for longer days and sun. I did catch a break as snow on Christmas night cleared for a rare, crystal blue sky the following day. The occasional clear winter day is usually accompanied by the internal obligation to actually get up and leave the house. So it’s time to venture out. I heard about a cool location nearby that I’d been excited to explore (Thanks Dan). This place was gigantic, old, and deserted. Carrie Furnace is a dormant Braddock steel mill, sitting just east of the city on the bank of the Monongahela River. Carrie Furnace is a former blast furnace that was built in 1884 and operated until 1982. At its peak, the site produced 1,000 to 1,250 tons of iron per day. Steel and Iron produced from Carrie Furnaces were used to construct the Empire State Building as well as the […] Read More