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| 1905?. "Zenith Furnace Company, Duluth, Minnesota." University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, Accessed January 3, 2021. https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:4576, cropped This is the West Duluth plant of the Zenith Furnace Company. West Duluth is a neighborhood of Duluth. Captain August B. Wolvin bought the aging blast furnace at this Fifty-seventh Avenue West location, modernized it and organized Zenith Furnace to operate it. It produced pig iron. It was incorporated in 1902. The plant produced 175 tons of product in 24 hours. In one month in 1916, a record of 310 tons of pig iron was produced in 24 hours. The site covers 80 acres and includes a coal dock. Coal gas, ammonia, and coal tar are by-products. It employed 350 men with a payroll of $35,000 a month in 1916. [Comparing this photo to a satellite image, there has been a lot of landfill to the east to make some more docks.] |
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| PerfectDuluthDay Zenith Furnace Company was organized in 1902 and located on St. Louis Bay at 59th Avenue West. The company manufactured pig iron and byproducts of coal gas, ammonia and coal tar. In 1931 the company was acquired by Interlake Iron Corporation and was a source of steel during World War II for use in government defense equipment. It closed in 1962. [This page has several more photos of the plant. It appears pinterest has the same image, but colored differently. This was a popular image for postcards.] |
On Feb 22, 187, the corporate ancestor started on Rice's Point.
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| ZenithCity Sketch showing the works of Duluth Iron and Steel, date unknown. Image: Duluth Public Library. "In 1948 the company became a division of Interlake Iron Co. and by 1955 was the country's largest producer of pig iron. But dramatic reductions in the demand for pig iron forced Zenith Furnace to close in 1962." |
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| Sammy Maida posted Undated file photo from my collection of the Zenith Furnace (later Interlake Iron Duluth). I believe this is just following construction, guessing early 1900s |
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| ZenithCity: Duluth's Metal Fabricators. Duluth's Zenith Blast Furnace. (Image: Duluth Public Library) [A blast furnace was a lot simpler when they did not have to worry about air pollution.] |
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| 1930?. "Zenith Furnace Company, Duluth, Minnesota." University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, Accessed January 3, 2021. https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:4574 View of blast furnaces at this pig iron manufacturing site at South Fifty-eighth Avenue West and the Northern Pacific Railway tracks. Sammy Maida posted File photo 1940s of Zenith Furnace, Duluth. |
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| 1924?. "Neighborhoods of Duluth: West Duluth, Open Hearth Furnace Building, Duluth, Minnesota." University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, Accessed January 3, 2021. https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:3361 West Duluth: Open Hearth furnace building |
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| Sammy Maida posted Duluth Works 1939 |
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| Sammy Maida commented on a share |
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| Sammy Maida posted 1950s photo from my collection of Interlake Iron/Zenith Furnace of Duluth. The coal bridges were among the last structures removed, mid 1990s. The dock itself is still in use today, but hardly any of the other structures are left remaining. [This photo confirms the satellite location.] By 1955, Interlake Iron was the largest producer of pig iron in the country. |
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| Samme Maida commented on his post Photo from David Schauer showing Interlake in 70. Those crane bridges remained on site until the 90s. There are two major buildings left from the complex today, the grey building at upper center and the red brick one at right, just to the left of the waters edge of the slip.When I checked out the buildings, I learned that railroad cranes are still built in the grey building. Or at least refurbished. |
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| Sammy Maida posted Another undated file photo from my collection of the early days of Zenith Furnace, Duluth. |
Sammy Maida posted three photos with the comment: "Undated file photos from my collection of early operating days of Zenith Furnace, Duluth."
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| 1 Jason Spears: Is that a track for skip cars? Never seen on on such a low angle like that. Sammy Maida: Jason Spears ya its unusually long |
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| Sammy Maida posted Duluth Works blast furnaces 1966. The furnace at left was one of two twin original BFs built in 1915. The one at right was a 1907 era BF from Joliet Works that was disassembled in 38 and re-erected at Duluth in 43 for the war effort, taking the place of the other twin bf which was strangely demolished in 32. The Joliet BF ran until the hot side closed in 71. The operation of the original furnaces fate is questionable. Some say it was idled before the hot side shutdown, others say it was running til the end. I've never found a solid answer. I was not aware that one of the Joliet BFs operated until 1971. |
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| Sammy Maida posted This photo isn't mine, file photo from Basgen in 59 of Zenith Furnace/Interlake Iron at Duluth, present day Reiss Coal docks. The foreground is the coal dock. Zenith Furnace is in the background and it is a few slips to the West. In fact, this photo indicates that the docks east of Central Avenue did not exist when Zenith Furnace was built. |
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| Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted A photograph by Hugh McKenzie (1879-1957) of coal being unloaded from the freighter Harold B. Nye at the Zenith Dock in Duluth, Minn. circa 1920 (Image Source; University of Minnesota Duluth – Kathryn A. Martin Library – Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections). The Zenith Dock was located at 58th Avenue West. [The description continues with the history of the freighter.] Kent Rengo shared |
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| Steve Vanden Bosch posted This photo from the Marine Review August 11 1904 shows the James H Reed being unloaded at the Zenith Furnace Duluth. |
Sammy Daida posted three photos with the comment: "Late 1950s photos from my collection of Zenith Furnace, by this point, Interlake Iron Duluth just prior to shutdown. Both the blast furnace and coke ovens were refurbished after the War. Zenith closed in 1962, but the structures remained until the 1980's."
Sammy Maida: ZFCo was an old furnace. It was originally part of a different venture in the 1880s at a different location, on Rices Point (todays Garfield Ave) as the Duluth Furnace Company but it failed shortly after it was built. It was disassembled and some of the material made its way to West Duluth, where a new furnace was built, known as the West Duluth Furnace Company. It too failed in the 1890s. It was reorganized again in 1902 and became the Zenith Furnace until it was bought by Interlake and ran until it closed in 62.
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| Sammy commented on his post |
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| Dennis DeBruler replied to a question in Sammy's post Red was Zenith and blue was US Steel. |
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| American-Rails.com suggested on July 24, 2022 Northern Pacific 0-6-0 #1077 switches Interlake Iron in West Duluth, Minnesota in the fall of 1955. A.C. Kalmbach photo. American-Rails.com collection. James Torgeson shared |
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| Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted The freighter Harold B. Nye at the Zenith Furnace dock in West Duluth, Minn., circa 1920 (Image Source: University of Wisconsin Madison Libraries Digital Collection – The Great Lakes Maritime History Project). The photograph is part of the Kenneth E. Thro Collection of the Jim Dan Hill Library at the University of Wisconsin Superior. It was taken by photographer Hugh McKenzie (1879-1957). Organized in 1902, the Zenith Furnace Co. was located 59th Avenue West on the shores of St. Louis Bay. The company manufactured pig iron and byproducts of coal gas, ammonia and coal tar. In 1931 it was acquired by Interlake Iron Corp. and used for steel production during World War II. The plant closed in 1962. Information Source: https://www.perfectduluthday.com/.../plant-zenith.../ [The text continues with a history of the freighter.] |
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