LIDAR FOOTPRINT OF HISTORIC CHARCOAL HEARTHS AT GREENWOOD FURNACE, HUNTINGTON COUNTY, PA

Data from the Pennsylvania light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data acquisition program was processed in geographic information system (GIS) software to highlight historic charcoal hearths at Greenwood Furnace, located in the mountains of northeastern Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. The community of Greenwood Furnace flourished here from 1834 to 1904 as a busy industrial complex based on iron production. The charcoal hearths and associated wagon roads are viewable in shaded relief images of the LiDAR digital elevation model (DEM) as circular features resembling small craters. Strings of hearths are readily evident along similar topographic contour lines on the adjacent hillsides. Approximately 500 historic charcoal hearths were identified in a 40 square mile area surrounding Greenwood Furnace. Today, the area around Greenwood Furnace supports a mixed hardwood forest and the charcoal hearths easily go unnoticed when hiking through these woods.