[1] The furnaces were built by Pittsburgh-area manufacturers (Lewis Dalzell & Co; J. Painter & Sons; Graff, Bennet & Co; Spang, Chalfant & Co; Henry Oliver of Oliver Brothers & Phillips; William Smith) who were dependent on pig iron.

They were built following the designs of modern English furnaces, among the first in the United States and among the largest at the time.

[5] James Gayley developed the dry-air blast technique at Isabella Furnace and the Edgar Thomson Steel Works between 1885 and 1904.

The discovery reduced the cost of a ton of pig iron by $0.50 to $1.00 and made it possible to produce uniform quality metal regardless of weather.

In the week prior to its introduction, Isabella averaged 358 tons of pig iron daily, consuming 2,147 pounds of coke; in the following week it averaged 447 tons with a coke usage of 1,726 pounds.