The Eureka Iron company in Wyandotte, MI, was the first iron plant to install a commercial grade Kelly/Bessemer convertor in America in 1864. But this was the first plant that was built to make steel instead of iron.
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| Roz Christopherson posted Bessemer converter at Pennsylvania Steel Company, Steelton, PA (circa ~1895) |
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| Randy Wilson commented on Roz' post The outside of the building... Wade Spooner: Randy Wilson There's a 21st Century bloom reheating furnace standing on that site today. |
Tom Martin posted the question: "Quick question that I have needed an answer to for a while. There used to be a Bethlehem facility on the banks of the Susquehanna river just outside of Harrisburg, Pa. What was the name of the facility and what did it do? The facility was visible from the Pa. Turnpike."
Steel Plant Museum of Western New York: Tom Martin That's the Steelton Plant, which is currently operating. Cliffs makes rail and Dura-Bond makes pipe.
Pat McCon: Tom Martin - The building that abutted the Turnpike is gone, as is a large part of the mill. Built in 1866 as the Pennsylvania Steel Company, it was the first steel mill in the US.
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| National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum posted on Sep 20, 2022 Pennsylvania Steel Company was America’s first steel company. In 1868, the site became the first in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to the process of making steel. Visit the online exhibit at https://steelmuseum.org/pais300_exhibit_2017/steelton.cfm Bill Gailey posted Bethlehem Steel Steelton Pa around 1930. Michael Maitland: How are these two plants doing nowadays? Alex Yates: Michael Maitland we are still running. I work there. [Update: I'm seeing posts in May 2025 that Cliffs is closing the plant.] John Groves posted Image caption: Steelton plant about 1930, source unknown. A brief historical facilities profile Bethlehem Steel Company Steelton, PA Operated by Bethlehem Steel as Pennsylvania Steel Technologies Inc. BF 1873, Bessemer 1867, OH 1875. 1960 lineup: BF A 19'8", 900 tpd BF B 25'0", 1,3500 tpd BF E 19'6", 850 tpd 1960 BF capacity 1.800 Mtpa No.1 BF built 1873, remodeled 1883, closed around 1917-19. No.2 built 1876, remodeled 1877, closed early-1920s. No.3 built 1884, rebuilt 1907, renamed C, closed 1927. No.4 built 1884, rebuilt 1908, renamed D, closed 1927. (Nos.1 to 4 in 1890 were each 11' hearths) A built 1918, rebuilt 1922, 1948, 1953, closed 1961. B built 1917, rebuilt 1929, 1949, closed 1961. E built 1916, rebuilt 1941, 1949, closed 1961. Original Bessemer shop built 1967, rebuilt 1881 (3 x 10t, 0.4 Mtpa), replaced 1913 by new shop with 3 x 20t for duplexing with 3 x 200t tilting OHs. Bessemer shop closed 1929. First 10 small OHs built 1875 to 1900. (12 OHs in 1894, including 2 tilting 1890, 6 tilting 1893) 6 OH x 138t 0.710 Mtpa (built 1907) 4 OH x 276t 0.773 Mtpa (built 1913, enlarged mid-1950s) rail mill (1915) now 1.16 Mtpa (replaced original 1868 rail mill), 20" bar mill (built as billet mill 1887, rebuilt as bar mill 1914) Post 1960s changes; All BFs closed 1961. 1968 OHs replaced by 3 EAF x 150t (1.500 Mtpa), replaced in turn in 1994 by 1 DC arc furnace x 140t (1.100 Mtpa), linked to a ladle furnace and vacuum degassers ($70M). 1983 3-strand bloom caster, 370 x 600 mm, (1.329 Mtpa), 1994 inline rail head hardening. 1961 14"/11"re-bar mill (0.680 Mtpa), closed mid-1990s. In 1989 Bethlehem Steel purchased the modern rail mill built in 1981 by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel at its Monessen Works near Pittsburgh. When Wheeling- Pittsburgh filed for bankruptcy in 1985 it closed the entire Monessen integrated plant. The $150M universal rail mill (0.400 Mtpa) was repossessed by the US Government which had provided a $95M loan guarantee. Bethlehem's purchase of the rail mill was apparently defensive, to prevent any competitor from acquiring it. It was never recommissioned. In 2003 the new owner ISG had proposed closing Steelton but the US Government had vetoed this on national security grounds. The modern efficient melt shop was needed to produce very large forging ingots for the now independent Lehigh Forge at Bethlehem, which produces forgings for the new generation of larger, faster and deeper diving nuclear submarines. Researched and authored by John Groves, 2020 |
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| [Summarizing some comments on John's post to remove an error in the original comments. The above freight car is used to ship hot ingots cast in Steelton to Lehigh Heavy Forge. The trip is 90 miles, and Norfolk Southern makes their cars a priority. The cars have a hook up for a gas burner.] |
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| Carl Lipski commented on a post |
It looks like just the foundations of the coke plant is left. The plant has some serious dust control equipment.
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| Satellite |
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| Randy Zerance posted Bethlehem Steel Plant in Steelton, PA. Paul Moore: Worked at this plant for 44 years thru 5 name changes now retired. |
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| Raymond Boothe posted Cleveland-Cliffs Steelton Rail Works: Rail on the cooling bed (CC photo). |
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| Raymond Boothe posted Cleveland Cliffs-Steelton Works: View of the EAF (Cliffs Photo/Dr. Raymond Boothe collection). |
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| Brian Carrol posted Steelton PA Ingot facility. 300 tons poured under vacuum. Two ladle pour. I took care of the degassing equipment. Installing that 450 ton bridge crane in the picture was the last project my father pushed before retiring from the Ironworkers. Chuck Kooistra Michael Matisko 30 years ago or so (when the process was transferred from Bethlehem to Steeton, PA) they were used for GE large turbine shafts and commercial nuclear containment vessels, along with other large forgings. Did bottom pour ingots to 92", and top pour from 92-130" in diameter. At the old facility in Bethlehem, when they stripped the mold and the ingot tipped, it would shake the ground so much that you literally couldn't see in the building for 5 minutes or so. They transferred the process to Steelton because they had better furnace technology.....and then shipped the hot ingots 100 miles back to Bethlehem for forging. Some of the extremely large ingots took two rail cars to transport. Rudy Schwartz: Those go to Lehigh heavy forge. Don Ruth: In Kenneth Warren's book Bethlehem Steel, Builder and Arsenal of America he writes (p.268): "ISG proposed to close the Steelton works, but the U.S. Government would not permit it to do so on grounds of national security. The reason for its intervention was that the modern and efficient melting shop there was capable of casting the large ingots required by Lehigh Forge, now independent ........ Lehigh in turn was needed to provide the forgings for a new generation of larger, faster, deeper-diving nuclear submarines." Joe Chiodo: One time at Homestead I saw them put 2 heats together (450 tons each) to make one degasser forging. Randal McVaney: Joe Chiodo watched double heat forging in Homestead in their big steam forge press. Amazing how it was manipulated for each hammer stroke. Operator looked like using pipe organ with many foot pedals and huge hand leavers. Was making propeller shaft for air craft carrier. |
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| Nick Wright commented on Brian's post Here’s the mold it came out of. |
A 0:59 video of a 1914 Wm. Tod steam shear in operation.
Calum Learn: 44" mill shear
Fred Scanlan: Verses a gas torch!
Cleveland-Cliffs indefinitely idled plants in Riverdale, Steelton and Conshohocken in 2025. It also idled a plant in Rouge. [ChicagoTribune, May 9, 2025]
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