In 1811, Andrew Henderson and Robert Allison built the second iron furnace in present Blair County here. Elias Baker became three-fourths owner in 1836, and in 1844, as he prepared to build his Greek Revival mansion nearby, he became full owner. The stone store building here was erected about 1832. Until the furnace closed in 1884, it remained in the Baker family, which consistently spelled its name "Alleghany".