W. A. Young started and owned the W. A. Young Machine Shop and Foundry in 1900. The building still maintains the original tools and machinery, which are driven completely by belts. From 1900 to 1969, it operated repairing and making parts for the mines, boats, and the locks and dams along the Monongahela River. This foundry and machine shop contributed to the industrial revolution of the coal and steel industries of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Robert Vogel, curator emeritus of the Smithsonian Institute, declared it one of the greatest foundries and machine shops of its type in the nation.
