May 15, 2014 2 min read

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission approved a $50,000 grant that will be used to complete work to protect the historic W.A. Young and Sons Machine Shop and Foundry in Rices Landing.

“The century-old foundry and the machinery and tools, some dating to the 1870s, are marvels worth protecting and appreciating,” said state Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, in a release announcing the grant issued by her and state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg.

“The region’s industrial heritage will be well served by this grant,” Snyder said.

The machine shop was built in 1900 by William A. Young and expanded to include a foundry in 1908. The shop has remained pretty much unchanged since the days it served the then-thriving riverboat, railroad and mining industries.

The machine shop includes the original metal lathes and milling machines as well the intricate system of leather belts and wooden pulleys that powered each piece of equipment from a single engine.

The foundry includes the original coke furnace, metal ladles and wooden forms once used to make molds. It also contains The shop was documented by the Smithsonian Institution and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The grant must be matched by the foundry’s owner, Rivers of Steel/Steel Industry Heritage Corp.

“The application had one of the higher rankings and received the maximum grant possible under the Keystone Historic Preservation Construction Grant program,” Solobay said. “The foundry and shop are at the heart of Mon Valley’s industrial legacy.”

According to the commission, the grant will be used to replace and rehabilitate windows, window frames and clapboard siding to protect the equipment housed inside the machine shop.