History & local legend
William A. Young opened this machine shop on Water Street in Rices Landing in 1900 and added a foundry in 1908. The family business made and repaired parts for riverboats, mines and local customers. Its belt-and-pulley system could drive many machines from a single power source, and much of that equipment survives inside the shop.
The business closed in 1965. Preservation work began after the Greene County Historical Society bought the property in the 1980s; the site later became part of Rivers of Steel. Guided visits let people see the tools and machinery where generations of workers used them.
The building also has its own ghost reports. Visit Greene describes unexplained whistling, moving objects and figures seen by visitors, staff and investigators. These are distinct from the nearby Stovepipe tradition, which belongs to the broader Rices Landing landscape and has a separate atlas entry at Pumpkin Run Park.
