62-008 Muirkirk Furnace Site (18PR149) Muirkirk Road Beltsville
62-010 Briarley Academy (Old Hotel) 11777 Old Baltimore Pike Beltsville
Established in 1847, the Muirkirk Iron Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1846, and from 1853 to 1920 was owned and operated by members of the Coffin family. During its peak production period, the company produced 7,000 tons of pig iron per year. The site of this important iron furnace is now hidden under a complex of industrial structures, and only one charcoal kiln (pictured above) survives.
Built in the 1860s, and enlarged and altered in 1911, the nucleus of this multipart frame structure is a twostory, hip-roof house with bracketed cornice. Two asymmetrical wings extend at angles from the central block: a long dormitory/kitchen wing and a ballroom wing. The original Humes family farmhouse was enlarged in 1911 by the addition of the two wings. The building was operated as a resort, and then from 1933 to 1949 as the Briarley Military Academy.
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