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Rices Landing: W.A. Young Foundry In 1965, the W.A Young Foundry’s owner locked the door and walked away. It was the last day of operation for an institution that had operated since 1900, an institution that represented the industrial revolution and the link Rices Landing provided to the Steel and coal industries in the Monongahela River Valley. William A. Young, a master carpenter, built a machine shop from wood found on his family farm along the banks for the Monongahela River in Rices Landing, Greene County Pa. Later he expanded it to be a foundry that could cast molten metal with a coke-fired furnace. Craftsmen worked on everything from bronze casting to horseshoes, pipe fittings, locomotive wheels, mine pulleys and even mousetraps. Business for the foundry came primarily from steamboats traveling up the river. Rices Landing was a hub for commercial distribution, and nearby coal mines were a primary employer. Later, when automobiles arrived on the scene, the foundry provide auto repair. The foundry was locked and neglected for 20 years, when the Green County Historical Society purchased it and began restorations and repair. Today, it looks much like it did the day the doors locked when the foundry closed. In one room, visitors can see where a gas light hangs next to an electric light, a visible example of the transfer of power from gas to electricity. The foundry also employed steam, interconnecting the 25 pieces of equipment via a system of belts and pulleys. Regarded by experts from the Smithsonian Institution as “the greatest find of its type in the nation,” the foundry is a visual treat and photographer’s wonderland. Nearby is the Lock 6 river museum, and an ice cream shop in a bank building, (the vault is empty) are within walking distance. Murray Kline and his wife Norma are wonderful people to meet and pleased to show off their town. Murray's great grandfather came to Rices Landing after receiving a land grant following his service in the war of 1812. Murray remembers calling out to cooks on towboats for fruit as they passed through the locks, and his uncle was one of the Lock 6 crew.
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Tours of the foundry may be
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