{"id":326,"date":"2016-06-23T00:01:42","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T04:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/usparks\/?p=326"},"modified":"2016-07-05T12:00:30","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T16:00:30","slug":"carrie-furnaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/usparks\/carrie-furnaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area: History and graffiti art"},"content":{"rendered":"

G<\/span>raffiti would be bubble-lettered bad on the Grand Canyon\u2019s vermilion walls. And a 40-foot-tall deer head fashioned out of scavenged rebar, wire and cracked rubber hoses would be out of place perched on Half Dome in Yosemite.<\/p>\n

But at the Carrie Furnaces, rusty, remnants poking out of the region\u2019s not-so-long-ago industrial heyday along the Monongahela River, the colorful, spray-painted \u201ctags\u201d and the twisted metal stag, work. And they are welcomed.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the Homestead-based nonprofit that manages the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, which includes Carrie Furnaces 6 and 7 and several other iconic metals manufacturing sites in eight southwestern Pennsylvania counties, is taking an inclusive path to preserving the region\u2019s internationally significant industrial history, while acknowledging its post-industrial present.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Rivers of Steel is working to stabilize the massive stag head sculpture, \u201cguerrilla art\u201d created in 1997-98 by a cadre of artists who illegally sneaked into the fenced property on weekends. And it\u2019s why the organization has hired an urban arts director to monitor and direct graffiti away from the landmark iron furnaces and instead onto designated, non-historic structures.<\/p>\n

\"Ron<\/a>
Ronald Baraff Director of Historic Resources and Facilities at Carrie Furnace. (Lake Fong\/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur core mission is to tell the story of iron and steel in the region, and if something tries to interfere with those historic structures or interpretation, we don\u2019t let that happen,\u201d said Ron Baraff, a public historian who is director of historic resources and facilities at Rivers of Steel. \u201cBut the urban art that\u2019s here enhances the site and enhances the experience, and does true justice to the history of the site, which doesn\u2019t end in 1978.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was the year the Carrie iron furnaces \u2014 which were part of the historic Homestead Works steel mill complex that produced as much as 1,000 tons of iron a day \u2014 were shut down by the U.S. Steel Co. The Carrie name came from a female relative of the original owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe iron that was made at Carrie and turned into steel at Homestead built the Empire State Building, the Panama Canal and the U.S.S. Missouri battleship,\u201d Mr. Baraff said, during a recent walk around the 35-acre site that straddles the Swissvale-Rankin border. \u201cIt\u2019s not hyperbole to say that the iron from this facility built 20th century America. Its steelworkers built the middle class. It\u2019s an incredible legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"Carrie-Furnace-National-Parks3-1\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Carrie-Furnace-National-Parks4-2\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
A panorama view of Carrie Furnace in Rankin. (Lake Fong\/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

I<\/span>t\u2019s the kind of legacy that is central to the National Heritage Areas Program, established by Congress in 1984 to foster community stewardship and preserve sites that tell historically important American stories, while generating economic benefits for local communities.<\/p>\n

\n

Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area<\/h2>\n

The Rivers of Steel Museum is located in the Bost Building, 623 E. Eighth Ave., Homestead.<\/p>\n

Carrie Furnaces are on Carrie Furnace Boulevard in Rankin. The Pump House building, site of the deadly 1892 battle between steelworkers and Pinkerton detective agents and now an exhibit space, is located in the Waterfront at 880 E. Waterfront Drive, Munhall.<\/p>\n

412-464-4020, info@riversofsteel.com<\/p>\n

Official Website<\/a><\/p>\n