Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 04/28/1995
NRHP Listing Date 08/03/1995
NRHP Reference Number 95000898
The complex of buildings, structures, and sites making up the Alleghany County village of Longdale Furnace are the tangible remains of an extensive mining and manufacturing operation. Industrial activity began here in 1827 when Lexington builder and entrepreneur John Jordan and his partner John Irvine built a coal-blast iron furnace here which they named Lucy Selina Furnace after their respective wives. The operation was continued by Jordan’s sons but was purchased in 1869 by William Firmstone and his partner Ario Pardee. They redeveloped the site as Virginia’s foremost hot-blast coke-fired furnace named the Longdale Iron Company. A community of workers’ dwellings, managers’ houses, and related buildings sprang up to service the activity. The company was dissolved in 1914. Many of the buildings disappeared but the Longdale Furnace Historic District still maintains a vestige of its former character.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: May 10, 2022
