The Forge House, built by John Dunlop in 1803, is located across the road from the Bell Font Iron Plantation, which is now Titan Metal Works. He used a corner room in the house as the iron plantation office, an expansive business that required the work of a minimum of 55 men in 18 different positions, at a cost of over $25,000 just get the business started. This represented a fortune in 1786, when an average yearly wage was $100. Dunlop was able to raise the funds and between 1794 and 1814, when he was killed in a mining accident, he became one of the wealthiest ironmasters in the Bellefonte region. It is thought that the name for Bellefonte came from his Bell Font Forge, derived from the fact that the finest iron was used for casting bells and the symbolic meaning of the name would have encompassed production of the finest products.
The 2 A1/2 story stone house illustrates the vernacular form of Georgian construction with 10 A1/2 foot ceilings and nine fireplaces. It is thought that John Lowy, the only registered architect in the area designed the house and it was constructed by John Patterson. The home was taken over by Bond Valentine when the Valentine brothers purchased John Dunlopa s estate.
Year Established
1803