Grove's Tramway

Before there was steel, there was iron. Iron manufacturing has been a key contributor to United States industry since Colonial times. No state has had more of an impact on the production of iron, and steel for that matter, then the state of Pennsylvania. One of the first hubs of iron manufacturing in Pennsylvania was the hamlet of Danville, Pennsylvania. Located on the Susquehanna River, Danville is known as the home of the first foundry that turned out the "T" rail which happened on Wednesday, October 8th, 1845. With the invention and perfection of the "T" rail by the foundries in Danville, the United States could finally rely on U.S. produced and designed rail instead of importing rail from England. This economic development is credited by some as the final variable separating the United States and England physically and economically.

Out of the numerous foundries once located in Danville, one of the largest and most profitable was the Columbia Furnaces owned by the Grove Brothers. The Groves Brothers Iron Company was formed when Michael J. Grove and his brothers established an iron foundry on the shores of the Susquehanna in Danville sometime around 1840. Between 1860 and 1880, another furnace had been added to the facility and the Groves had become a very wealthy family. Michael J. Groves' two sons, John H. Grove and Robert M. Grove, took over the business when Michael passed away in 1877 and would continue running the company until 1891. That year, the two men retired, the assets were sold, and the furnaces were demolished.

There are many facets to take into account when operating a 19th Century iron foundry. None so important as transportation. Iron foundries require the constant transporting of raw ore and finished product to and from the furnaces. Danville, Pennsylvania, was chosen as a hub for the Grove Brothers operations due to the towns strategic location on transportation arteries such as the mainline of the Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western Railway and the Susquehanna River. This paired with the fact Danville is situated within a close proximity to the iron veins of the Susquehanna Region was a recipe for profit and success. The first step in the transportation journey of iron ore is the initial extraction of the raw ore from the mines themselves to larger, more extensive rail lines or rivers. Various iron producing companies such as the Grove Brothers operated small, usually narrow gauge, tramway lines connecting their iron mines with larger regional rail lines or ports. These larger rail lines then either went through Danville or connected with other railroads that went through Danville.

The land holdings of the Grove Brothers were quite extensive throughout the Danville area as well as throughout other iron rich counties in Pennsylvania. One of the last regions exploited for raw iron by the Grove's was the Huntingdon County region of Pennsylvania located in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania. There, in the vicinity of the small hamlet of Marklesburg, Pennsylvania, and on the slopes of Tussey Mountain, the Grove Brothers operated a 36" Inch Narrow Gauge tramway connecting their Marklesburg Iron Mine with the mainline of the nearby Huntingdon & Broad Top Mountain Railroad which went through downtown Marklesburg. This operation utilized an old 0-4-2T "dinky" engine to transport the raw ore directly from the mine at a place called Isett Hollow to an iron tipple near a location known as Brumbaugh's Crossing just north of Marklesburg. By 1891, the Grove Brothers operation had shut down but the Marklesburg Iron Mine continued to be mined until at least 1916. It is unknown if the small "dinky" engine was utilized after the Groves abandoned their operations though it is presumed the locomotive was partially scrapped and converted into an ore washer between 1900 and 1910.

Although the Grove Brothers' Columbia Furnaces are long since demolished and the dinky locomotive long since scrapped, effects of the Grove Brothers legacy continue to be felt throughout Pennsylvania and the United States. Towns like Grovania, Pennsylvania, and Danville would not exist if it weren't for the Grove's and much of the country's early iron infrastructure would have continued to come from England if not for the entrepreneurship and ingenuity of the Grove Brothers and their employees.