Winfield Iron Furnace Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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By chance, while browsing the web the other day, I came across a picture of the Winfield Iron Furnace. The picture looked very impressive to say the least, so I decided to scope out the area and see if it was as nice as it looked in the picture. Sure enough, it is very much intact and quite impressive, certainly deserving of a cache to bring people to the site.
Some background information on the furnace:
The winfield furnace is on Rough Run in West Winfield in Winfield Township. It was built in 1847 by William Speer. Originally 20 feet square and 33 feet high it used charcoal and produced about 40 tons of iron a week. Sold to the Winfield Coal Company in 1856, it was purchased by William Stewart of Hickory Furnace fame, but he closed it down in 1864. Powered by water at the start it later was converted to steam. The iron produced was shipped to Freeport by wagon and from there to Pittsburgh by boat(s&t). The exterior of the furnace is in good shape, with about 13 rows of stone intact, and there are three large openings that can be entered and a view up the stack obtained. There is slag near the creek.
At the location, you will find a small cache about the size of a softball with room for small
trades and small TBs/coins. Please use the parking coordinates that are listed in additional waypoints. Any other approaches are likely crossing private property and could endanger the longevity of this cache.
You do not have to actually go inside the iron furnace to locate the cache, although I would recommend going in and scoping it out. It's very impressive.
Good luck! Enjoy the furnace!
Congrats to IvywoodGang on the FTF!!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vg'f va gur sheanpr, ohg abg vafvqr gur sheanpr.
Treasures
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