Union Forge

Union Forge is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Lickdale, Lebanon County, dedicated 1947.

SR 1020 just E of Pa. 72, Lickdale

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Site of a charcoal iron forge begun about 1782 by Curtis Grubb, owner of Cornwall Iron Furnace; a major user of Cornwall iron. Such forges transformed brittle pig iron into workable wrought iron. Union Forge included 1,000 acres of land, blacksmith and carpenter shops, a grist mill, and several houses. Under different owners, the forge was in regular operation until 1868. By then, rolling mills were displacing forges as refiners of iron.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1780 · A new and accurate map of the province of Pennsylvania in North America, from the best… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1782 · Carte de la Pensylvanie et du Nouveau Jersey (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1792 · A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1794 · A new and general map of the middle dominions belonging to the United States of America… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1796 · Pennsylvania. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania, 1792, covering the location of Union Forge, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania, 1792, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

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