On June 16, 1863, news arrived in the mill office of the Caledonia Ironworks that Confederate forces were headed their way. Thaddeus Stevens, the mill’s owner, would need to leave the area quickly. Stevens was a United States representative who was a strong voice in Congress for the abolition of slavery. Confederate forces, under the command of Major General Jubal Early, were marching east through Pennsylvania on their way via York to burn the Wrightsville bridge. Early, who despised Stevens, would burn and destroy the ironworks on June 26, 1863. Stevens would lose about $90,000 as a result of Early’s actions. He would rebuild the ironworks while continuing to pay its 200-250 workers during the process. The Caledonia Furnace also operated as a station on the Underground Railroad. The Pennsylvania Alpine Club paid for the reconstruction of the furnace stack shown in the pictures below in 1927.

Source

Thaddeus Stevens Historical Trail. A Self-guided Tour

Gettysburg 150: Jubal Early’s Burning of Thaddeus Stevens’ ironworks felt in York, Pa. by Jim McClure in the York Daily Record July 1, 2013.

The Chambersburg Public Opinion. June 30, 2013.