Morgan Park was the company town built by US Steel for the officials and highly skilled workers. Gary and New Duluth housed the lesser-skilled employees. US Steel was forced by the state legislature to build a plant in Minnesota to avoid an "export tax" on iron ore. [ZenithCity]
The reason why there were steel mills along the Monongahela River is that early discoveries of iron ore were in Pennsylvania. The reason why there were new steel mills in the Midwest rather than in Duluth was that it takes four tons of coal for every ton of iron ore to fire a blast furnace. And iron ore is twice as dense as coal. So for every ship needed to carry iron ore from Duluth to Midwest, eight ships would be needed to carry coal from the Midwest to Duluth. But, as mentioned above, USS established a token plant here to avoid taxes.
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| Photo via US Steel Works Ruins Not much more than a century ago, just in 1910 in fact, Minnesota Steel Company began constructing the first of two blast furnaces on the shore of the St. Louis River near where it empties into Lake Superior. The investors saw the formula for steel come together in Duluth: iron ore, coal and an increasingly industrial market of shipbuilders, heavy manufacturing and infrastructure improvements. American Steel and Wire Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, began leasing the plant’s two furnaces and built a nearby cement plant, Universal-Atlas Cement, to harvest the byproducts of the forging process. At its peak, the steel plant turned out more than 200,000 miles of barbed wire and 23,000 miles of woven fencing in a year—a period that probably overlapped the wartime employment of 6,000 in the 1940s. ZenithCity: Duluth's Metal Fabricators. The blast furnace at the USS Minnesota Steel Plant in Duluth. (Image: Zenith City Press) [It is interesting that Zenith City is claiming this image as their own.] |
The reason why there were steel mills along the Monongahela River is that early discoveries of iron ore were in Pennsylvania. The reason why there were new steel mills in the Midwest rather than in Duluth was that it takes four tons of coal for every ton of iron ore to fire a blast furnace. And iron ore is twice as dense as coal. So for every ship needed to carry iron ore from Duluth to Midwest, eight ships would be needed to carry coal from the Midwest to Duluth. But, as mentioned above, USS established a token plant here to avoid taxes.
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| Sammy Maida posted Early photo of the Universal Portland Cement Company and Duluth Works steel plant of U.S. Steel. Judging from the number of bridge cranes and BF's, this was taken in the mid 1920's. S. Maida collection Bob Tita: When did USS Duluth Works close? Must be a long time ago? Sammy Maida: Bob Tita hot side in 71. Remainder of U.S Steel operations in 1981. Last operating tenant in 87. There's nothing left of it now. |
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| David Schauer posted I might have shared this before but I came across this scan last night. Duluth Works and the cement plant in the mid-1950s (note DM&IR SW9 switching the cement plant). DW&P line at the bottom of the image, assuming this angle was from the Skyline overlook. Basgen Photography James Torgeson shared The USS Duluth Works looms in the distance with the adjacent and dependent cement plant in the foreground. |
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| David Schauer posted Jean Basgen was hired by the DM&IR to take a number of images at the Duluth Works and Atlas Cement plant for an article in the Missabe Iron Ranger. Here is a color transparency from that assignment showing SW9 No. 12 at the limestone dock. The "battleship" hoppers were used to move limestone that was brought to Duluth by lakers and unloaded near the ore docks for use at the mill. Basgen Photography 1958. |
Sammy Maida posted two images with the comment: "A picture of a painting at West Duluth's infamous Kom On Inn showing the unique blast furnaces of the Duluth Works of U.S Steel. The blast furnace at right was brought up from the former Joliet Works during WW2 after the matching sister to the BF on the left was dismantled (thats a strange story in itself). The left furnace was the original of the two and both operated until 71. If you are ever in West Duluth, check out the Kom On Inn. There are dozens of paintings of West Duluths long gone factories."
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| 1954 West Duluth Qudadrangle @ 1:24,000 |
I'm saving an image of the ruins in case the EPA ever finishes cleaning up the site and it gets redeveloped.
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| United States Steel Corporation. 1912-08. "Blast furnace stoves, gas washer, ore and coke ovens at Minnesota Steel Company, Duluth, Minnesota." Minnesota Museum of Mining, Accessed January 3, 2021. https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/mmm:57 The coke ovens, still under construction, stand tall in the center of this photo taken at the Minnesota Steel Company in Duluth. |
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| James Torgeson shared USS Duluth Works. |
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| Sammy Maida posted Duluth Works blast furnace diagram Blown out in 1971. |
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| Sammy Maida commented on his post Duluth Works BF's under construction |
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| Sammy Maida commented on his post |
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| Sammy Maida commented on his post |
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| Sammy Maida posted This is a Robert S Platt photo that I've never seen before. It is dated 1930 and shows the plant from across the Hots Creek in Morgan Park. I've always wondered what the structure is at center, appears to be an early type of quench tower but never could verify what it was. Kenneth Treharn: 10 smaller stacks are the Open Hearth Melt Shop. Two stacks background right look like 2 blast Furnaces. I not sure what the tallest stack is. Possibly boiler house. Sammy Maida: Kenneth Treharn tallest stack is the coke plant. Sammy Maida shared 1930 photo of the Duluth Works of U.S Steel. |
Sammy Maida posted three photos with the comment: "The former Duluth Works and Universal Atlas Cement site today. Redevelopment and cleanup is continuing 30 years after steelmaking ceased here on the shores of Lake Superior."
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| Sammy Maida posted In the twilight of her days.....Duluth Works in Morgan Park, 1979. Courtesy of Roger Nesje. Sammy Maida shared |
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| 47:39 video @ 0:56 Gregory Kraatz: Five stoves for each Furnace? Rick Rowlands: Gregory Kraatz Yep. Apparently they wanted to keep blast temperature high so added a fifth stove to the rotation. Three pass stoves with that odd single stack arrangement. Only plant that tried this. Bob Ciminel: The best video presentation of an integrated steel mill I’ve ever watched. |
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| safe_image for Morgan Park, Minnesota: A United States Steel Town |
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