Lancaster Conservancy (the Conservancy) and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) have once again partnered to protect and care for a historic natural site in the Hellam Hills. The 21-acre property includes the Ironmaster House adjacent to the Codorus Furnace along with more than a third of a mile of the Codorus Creek. The property is an addition to the Susquehanna Riverlands State Park, established in 2022 through the joint efforts of the Conservancy and DCNR. The Conservancy protected this park in 2022 before transferring it to DCNR.

The Ironmaster House was built in the late 18th or early 19th century. In 1765, a furnace known as the Hellam Hills Iron Works was established on adjacent lands by William Bennet. This furnace is reputed to have produced weapons used during the Revolutionary War. In 1837, the Codorus Furnace was constructed and operated on the site of the previous Hellam Hills Iron Works. The Codorus Furnace is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Conservation Society of York County purchased and protected the Codorus Furnace in 1949, but the adjacent Ironmaster House remained unprotected. In January 2023, the Conservancy acquired the property that includes the Ironmaster House for transfer to the state in June.

The Susquehanna Riverlands State Park is within the Conservancy's Hellam Hills Conservation Area, a natural area that stretches from just north of Wrightsville to the Codorus Creek and includes more than 2,000 acres of contiguous forests. The conservation area also includes the Conservancy's Hellam Hills and Wizard Ranch nature preserves as well as Roundtop, which the Conservancy recently announced plans to acquire.

All these properties in the Hellam Hills are part of the Susquehanna Riverlands Conservation Landscape, a landscape designated by DCNR that consists of lands that fall within the York and Lancaster County municipalities that border the river. These forests along the Susquehanna River are in an area rich with history and natural resources, including waterfalls, glens, and rocky cliffs.

Lancaster Conservancy is a nonprofit land trust that seeks to provide wild and forested lands and clean waterways for the community forever. The organization has protected more than 10,000 acres of natural land and manages 50 nature preserves open to the public in Lancaster and York counties. To learn more and donate, visit http://www.lancasterconservancy.org.