Johnstown, PA: Bethlehem/Cambria Steel Franklin Division

(Satellite)

Johnstown had several steel mills. As I come across details of what was where, I'm writing notes for each mill.

The Franklin Division was the "hot end" of Bethlehem/Cambria since 1880. It contained blast furnaces and coke ovens as well as some mills.

LC-DIG-ds-02626
Panoramic view Franklin Works, Cambria Steel Co., Johnstown, Pa.

Nick Markowitz Jr. shared a Jackson-Township historical preservation photo
Franklin Works of Cambria Steel in Franklin Borough, Cambria County in 1912.

Don Cassata posted
A 1940's view of the Franklin Div. Johnstown Plant Bethlehem Steel. The tiny Boro was only dependent on Bethlehem's real estate check. The finance committee met once a year, cashed a huge check & adjourned the meeting.

 

Thomas Leslie posted
Bethlehem Steel, Franklin, In full Production. This is the most detailed photo I have showing the enormous size of the Franklin Complex. I believe J Blast Furnace can be seen in the photo. With 5 operational Blast Furnaces in one facility, the demands for fuel and wind must have been quite a daunting task to supply all five. Notice the Main Line and all the sidings filled with rail cars. This was truly the time of America's industrial supremacy. Photo courtesy Ray Clites
David R. Layman: 5 blast furnaces, 21 open hearths and 2 coke plants with byproducts.
Mike Picklo: In the lower right is the parking lot that was used mostly for the Railcar Division employees. Also this photo is before the Maple Ave. bridge was erected. Maybe since the parking lot was full, that would explain all the railcar around. They all look empty.
Tony Freidhoff: According to a Tribune article, the new bridge was built in 1958.
Thomas Leslie shared

hagley
Franklin Iron Works, Bethlehem Steel Corporation (Johnstown, Pa.), 1945

 

Phil Jadlowiec posted
Bethlehem Steel
[Some comments indicate that this is the coke works in the Franklin section of Johnstown, PA.]
Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
Bethlehem Steel Mills in Franklin Borough, Cambria County in the 1950's.
D Eric Davis shared

JAHA
Cambria Iron Works was founded in 1852. "In 1898, the Cambria Iron Works was reorganized and renamed the Cambria Steel Company, and built a new, modern steel mill in Franklin Borough, east of Johnstown. The Franklin mill included blast furnaces, a steel railroad car department and open hearths." Bethlehem bought the facilities in 1923. "In 1973, 11,800 workers were employed. But that year, Bethlehem decided to significantly cut its Johnstown operations for a variety of reasons, including aging facilities, lack of access to transportation, and difficulty in complying with environmental regulations. Damage caused by the 1977 flood didn’t help matters, and by 1982 only 2,100 workers were left. The Johnstown plants of Bethlehem Steel Corporation were closed in 1992."

 

Nick Markowitz Jr. shared Jackson-Township historical preservation photo
Bethlehem Steel Mills in Franklin Borough, Cambria County in the 1950's.

 

westmoreland, Richard A. Stoner, 1952
Bethlehem Steel's Franklin Mills, Johnstown

 

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
Smoke from the Bethlehem Steel Mills in Franklin seen behind the Woodvale area of Johnstown in this 1973 photo.
(Photo from https://www.facebook.com/TribuneDemocrat)

 

Phil Jadlowiec posted
Bethlehem Steel Works Mills in Franklin Borough, Cambria County on June 21, 1973.
History's Mirror posted
Bethlehem Steel Works Mills in Franklin Borough, Cambria County, as photographed by Robert M. Vogel on June 21, 1973. The scene includes loaded coal cars of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the foreground. Built in 1898 by Cambria Steel Company, the mill changed hands multiple times before Bethlehem Steel acquired it in 1923. It operated until its closure in 1992, marking the end of an era for the region's steel industry.
D Eric Davis shared

Photo via JAHA-page-3
An aerial view of the Franklin mills taken in the 1980s.  This section of mills stretched for miles along the riverbank.

Photo via JAHA-page-3
Another view of the Franklin mills.

Photo via JAHA-page-3
This is a photo of the #7 blast furnace that was located in Franklin.  Because of the lay of the valley, Cambria had several divisions built in different locations.

HistoricPittsburgh, c. 1930
Blast Furnace and Railroad Tracks next to Coke Oven Battery, Franklin Borough
[I don't see a blast furnace. The tall thing on the left probably loads coal into the larry car. At first, I thought it was the quenching tower. But that would be over the tracks that we see in this view.]

The #18 coke battery shutdown in Apr 1982. The blast furnace had been shutdown the previous year because of the startup of a new $110m EAF in Oct, 1981.[upi]

psu, Ludwig Henning, 1934
Pushing Coke from By-Product Oven: Coke Ovens, Franklin Plant, Bethlehem Steel Company, Johnstown Pa.

Don Cassata posted
An ingot going thru the blooming mill. Franklin Mills. Johnstown Plant Bethlehem Steel. 1951.
Graham Whitfield: The Ingot has been rolled into a Bloom.

Don Cassata posted
Franklin Car Shop. Johnstown Plant Bethlehem Steel. 1951.

Don Cassata posted
A view of the Open Hearth shortly before closing. Johnstown Plant Bethlehem Steel. 1981.
Barry Bennett: Looks like you got an open stopper.
Scott Gracie: Interesting........1981 was long after most plants updated to BOFs.......mid/late 1960s.
Richard Allison: What I remember was I was new to the refractory business and my company sent me to USS-Homestead to show the guys at the open hearth shop on using our gunning machine on how to gunite with a silicious gun mix so they could limit the sticking skulls at the top of the ladle. On the pit side I remember them sounding a warning horn and blowing the taphole with an explosive charge to open the taphole. Scared me to death.....
William Moutz: Richard Allison lmao I worked there out of the boiler shop for Years.
You missed a good one when the bottom of a full ladle dropped off. It was leaking hot metal from one of the rivets while sitting on its stand behind the furnace. They cleared the area and told the crane operator to pick it up , rack in , lower close to the floor and carry it to the re-pour pit. He was able to lift and rack it in but as he was lowering it the entire bottom dropped off. This operator had balls of steel . He lowered the rest of the ladle on top of the bottom while flames were shooting to the roof. He was able to lower the hooks enough to rack away from the ladle and bridge away.
Thanks to the insulation and a double floor he was not injured nor was anyone else. Took awhile to clean up that mess.There was 300 ton of molten steel on the floor.

Don Cassata posted
A 1950 pix of the Franklin Open Hearth in Johnstown Plant Bethlehem Steel. Just 1 of 21 in Franklin. They won the Most Tonnage Award in 1953.
Pat Palumbo: Johnstown plant had two acid open hearths. They were not used when I worked there.
John Slowikowski: Last one in the states closed in the 90’s and if any are still in operation maybe in Eastern Europe

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted

Bethlehem Steel Works Mills in Franklin Borough, Cambria County on June 21, 1973. The Franklin Mills were built by the newly re-organized Cambria Steel Company in 1898. The mill was purchased by the Midvale Steel & Ordnance Company in 1916, which in turn sold the mill to Bethlehem Steel Company in 1923. Bethlehem Steel closed the mill in 1992. This photo was taken by Robert M. Vogel.

(Photo from https://www.indarch.mtu.edu/)