The iron bar comes from Erbtown, in Centre County, which is (of course) in the center of Pennsylvania. But even around here, nobody knows that name any more. It is a ghost town, with only one shack left standing.
  Jacob Erb bought land in the 1830s, in a small hollow off the big valley south of State College. The 1861 and 1874 county atlases each show a cluster of buildings around the mill pond, most of them being owned by Jos Erb. On the 1861 map, it included a flour mill, foundry, and about 5 other buildings (houses). On the 1874 map, it included a grist mill and 7 buildings. On both maps there was a second cluster of buildings out in the larger valley, where the road from the hollow joined the Great Road to Pittsburgh (now PA Route 45). This cluster included a blacksmith shop and three other buildings.
  Historic research also turned up a tannery, run by one of Erb's sons, and a shoemaker, who was not an Erb. This is all on a very small scale, crowded into a little hollow where a stream comes down from the ridge.
   
  The railroad never made it that far. There was a rail line planned, to run along the base of the ridge and across the mouth of the hollow, but it never happened, beyond some grades being cut - no track was ever laid.
   
  The current land owner and a friend started exploring the foudnations to decide where NOT to build his new house. And then they got interested and have done some documentary research as well as some clearing of foundation wall lines - mostly at the grist mill and dam. They even contacted some Erb family descendants (now living in other areas of the country) who had a mini-reunion there and provided him with photographs of Erb and his wife from the 1860s!
  When I went on a walk-over visit of the site, they told me they had found several of these items, all the same. I just took photos of the one we ran across. They have also found some gears and rods, inside the mill foundation.
   
  As for the iron bars, I think they are finished shapes, not broken. Maybe some sort of machine part. If they were blanks, would they be irregular or incinsistent in shape/size? They can't be railroad spikes, because the rounded end makes ahmmering impossible - each blow would just slide off the curve of the rounded end.
  That's about the extent of my knowledge about the place. I hope it helps.
  Meli