Article ID: CBB136236915

A Revolution in Steel: Mass Production in Pennsylvania, 1867-1901 (1992)

unapi

William Sissons (Author)


IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology
Volume: 18
Issue: 1/2
Pages: 79-93


Publication Date: 1992
Edition Details: THEME ISSUE: IA OF AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL
Language: English

Capitalists, engineers, and workers transformed the products', scale, and technology of the American steel industry between 1867, when successful mass production of steel began in the United States, and 1901, when the United States Steel Corporation was organized. Capitalists such as Andrew Carnegie greatly expanded the size of plants in Pennsylvania, erecting huge steel mills that dwarfed the earlier iron and steel furnaces and rolling mills they outmoded. These plants manufactured a broad array of new steel products—including rails, structural shapes, wire, plate, sheet, and tubes—that supplanted many products manufactured of other materials, most notably iron. Engineers such as Alexander Holley created technological processes—including steelmaking furnaces, larger and more efficient iron blast furnaces, continuous rolling, improved materials handling, and integrated stages of production—in order to manufacture larger quantities of steel products more quickly at lower cost. Capitalists and engineers pioneered many of these revolutionary changes in Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth led all states in creating and adopting new technology, including the first successful mass production of steel at Steelton in 1867, the erection of new steel plants, and the manufacture of a wide variety of steel products. Pennsylvania, particularly the Pittsburgh area, was the heart of the nation's steel industry in this period.

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Associated with

Article Thomas E. Leary; Patrick M. Malone (1992) Men and Tongs: The Belgian Rod Mill at the Washburn Wire Company, East Providence, Rhode Island. IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology (pp. 106-122). unapi

Article Joel Sabadasz (1992) The Development of Modern Blast Furnace Practice: The Monongahela Valley Furnaces of the Carnegie Steel Company, 1872-1913. IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology (pp. 94-105). unapi

Article Robert B. Gordon (1992) Industrial Archeology of American Iron and Steel. IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology (pp. 5-18). unapi

Article Edward S. Rutsch; Brian H. Morrell (1992) An Industrial Archeological Survey of the Long Pond Ironworks, West Milford Township, Passaic County, New Jersey. IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology (pp. 40-60). unapi

Article Helen Schenck (1992) The Upper Forge at Valley Forge. IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology (pp. 19-39). unapi

Article Victor R. Rolando (1992) Vermont's 18th- and 19th-Century Blast Furnace Remains. IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology (pp. 61-78). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB136236915/

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Authors & Contributors
Jadviga M. da Costa Nunes
John H. Kopmeier
Ruminski, Clayton J.
Paul White
Dan Trepal
Brian Schmult
Concepts
Industrial archaeology
Iron and iron industry
Blast furnaces
Charcoal and charcoal industry
Iron, Cast
Slag
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
18th century
20th century, early
Places
United States
Pennsylvania (U.S.)
Michigan (U.S.)
Oswego, OR
Carp River
Juniata County
Institutions
West Point Foundry
Delaware and Hudson Railroad Corporation
Adirondack Iron and Steel Company
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