I know that I included the Hitchcock! A Halloween Party at the Carrie Furnace on the big list of Pittsburgh Halloween Parties, but the folks who are working to make this a fabulous party and this location both deserve a more than the few bullet points that were included on that list.

The hosts of this upcoming soiree have been sending some amazing updates about the party, more on that in a minute.  First the party details…

Hitcock! A Halloween Party

• Date: Saturday, November 1, 2014
• Time: 8pm-1am
• Location: Carrie Furnace, Rankin, PA
• Benefits: Rivers of Steel
• Cost: $35 includes 3 drink tickets, $5 for shuttle
• Tickets | Facebook Event

The Venue: Carrie Furnace

If you are new to Pittsburgh, or maybe you grew up here when the Waterfront had already been turned into a shopping plaza, you might not know what in the heck people are talking about when they say furnace.

Carrie Furnace No. 7, U.S. Steel Homestead Works, Blast Furnace Plant, Along Monongahela River, Homestead (Allegheny County, Pennsylvania) (cropped) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Carrie Furnace is actually the Carrie Furnaces, former blast furnaces that were part of a steel manufacturing plant.  As you may know, most of the steel manufacturing left the Pittsburgh area in the 1970s and 1980s.  The Carrie Furnaces were built in 1907 for the Homestead Works.  The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is working on making these furnaces one of the focal points for a proposed Homestead Works National Park.

The Carrie Furnace and the whole Rivers of Steel area are an often overlooked, but very important part of local and national history. The steel industry a key story line in the development of Pittsburgh as a major international city but the Homestead Strike of 1892 was a significant historical event in the countries labor history.

And that is just a tiny bit of the history behind the Carrie Furnace.  You can learn more about the site from the Rivers of Steel website here.

The Hosts: The Brew Gentlemen, The Independent Brewing Company & Bar Marco

This party is being put together by three businesses that are all relatively new to Pittsburgh, but whose owners have a passion for supporting the local community, local businesses and local history.  I know that I, as well as many others in Pittsburgh, have written much about each of these businesses before (and I am sure the other bloggers are better writers than me).  But all of these fine folks should be on your radar…

• The Brew Gentlemen @BrewGentlemen
• The Independent Brewing Company @IndependentPGH
• Bar Marco @BarMarcoPGH

The Trailer: Yes, this party has its own video trailer

The Other Details…

Pete, who is one of the owners of The Independent Brewing Company as been writing some impressive essays, I mean updates about the party.  Here are a few of the highlights, you can read all of the party updates here.

On what to wear…

1.  Wear “outdoor” shoes.  Most of the party is indoors, but even indoors, the terrain can be a bit rough.  So wear something that will prevent you from twisting ankles or skinning toes.  You can rock that sexy 60s cocktail dress just as well (and a heck of a lot more comfortably and safely) in a cute pair of sturdy flats. as you would in 6 inch stilettos.

2.  Dress as light as you’d like, but be SURE to bring something warm to throw on — Current weather predictions are sunny (yay!) but a low of 39 degrees (boo!).   Don’t worry — we’re not animals — we’ll have fire barrels in the courtyard and also space heaters in the A/C Powerhouse (which will likely warm up from human heat pretty well too).  But, plan to have a couple of layers.  No one is going to stop you from coming naked and wrapped in a bloody shower curtain, but be sure to bring a blanket to wrap yourself in when you go into the courtyard.

On why this party matters…

But, I hope (and, after today, I think that I know) that, at this party, you’ll have a sense that what you’re doing is being part of something special, for the furnaces and the region.  And I hope that you can connect back to that same feeling that we’ve had as we continue to build our set:  namely, that not long ago, there were hard working people in this very same place making iron that built not just our city, but our whole nation.  We can’t compare to the achievements of those workers.  But we can help keep their memory alive by throwing one hell of a party and bringing that sacred place alive for one more evening (and hopefully, many more days and evenings to come in the future).

If you get the chance, sign up the for the Independent Brewing Company’s Email list (I have no idea where  or how you sign up for this) but I promise you that Pete’s weekly updates are not something that you will want to click unsubscribe.