From 1942 to 1957, Vitro Manufacturing Company refined uranium and other rare metals from various ores and onsite residues, government-owned uranium ore, process concentrates, and scrap materials. The government bought the uranium ore from Vitro and used it in the Manhattan Project. Waste from incomplete extraction and other metallurgical processes accumulated during the site's long history. About 11,600 tons of mill tailings were moved to railroad property near Blairsville between 1956 and 1957. After the closure of Vitro, the site was used by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The site was then used by the Canonsburg Pottery Company, operated by the George Family, for land and clay.