Daniel Royer House

Dotted throughout the forests of Blair County are remains of the once booming iron industry. The Royer house was the mansion for an iron plantation begun in 1814. Three Royer brothers came to Blair County in 1811 and purchased land. One brother farmed, but Daniel and John opened a forge to hammer raw iron bars, “pigs,” into smaller, thinner bars that could be hammered by blacksmiths into horseshoes, locks, and other small items. Within three years, they branched out and built the Springfield Iron furnace and ore mine to supply a steady stream of iron for their forges, establishing a strong, local, familybased industry. Daniel's son Samuel moved into the two-and-one-half-story random-laid stone house in 1821 and raised ten children here, expanding the house several times. From a three-bay side entrance house, it became a five-bay central entrance. A two-story wing added to the rear has a two-story porch along its inner (south) elevation, and a two-story log wing with clapboard sheathing was added at a lower level on that elevation. Various family members worked for the Royer family empire, founding not only the first iron forge operating in the county but also the last, which closed in 1885.