One of the early iron mills in the U.S. was the Mount Pleasant Iron Works. Located in Metal Township, Franklin County, it was originally owned and operated by the Chambers Family, founding family of Chambersburg. Remaining today from the Mount Pleasant Iron Works is an 1800, two-story field stone house.
Four miles north of Mount Pleasant Iron Works was Carrick Furnace, also located in Metal Township. The property remains today and includes the limestone furnace stack, a Peter L. Weimer blowing engine (1879), boilers for the steam engine, and the charging ramp, engine house, and cast house foundations. The furnace was built about 1828 and operated until 1837. It filled some of the void created by the closing of the Mount Pleasant Iron Works. The property sold in 1843 and later in 1879 was converted to a hot blast furnace with the installation of the steam-powered blowing engine. It stopped operating in 1884 and was donated to the Franklin County Historical Society in 1935. Today, Carrick Furnace stands along Route 75 as a reminder of the early iron industry of colonial America.