Towns and Nature: Conshohocken, PA: 1832 Alan Wood Iron and Steel Company

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Conshohocken, PA: 1832 Alan Wood Iron and Steel Company

(Satellite, it appears the mill still exists.)

This company is more evidence that the iron industry started in eastern Pennsylvania and then later moved to the Pittsburgh area.

The following four photos share the this title and description.

Title: Alan Wood Iron and Steel Company, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. [graphic].

Description: Aerial views of the Alan Wood Iron and Steel Company in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Views from higher and lower altitudes show the factory complex from several angles as it sits on the bank of the Schuylkill River and straddles Conshohocken Road. The mainfacility was designed by the architecture firm of Savory, Scheetz, & Savory and built in 1910. Railroad tracks and bridges over the river are visible as are portions of the city of Conshohocken in the distance.

The Library Company of Philadelphia

It looks like two blast furnaces.

Digitally Zoomed

The Library Company of Philadelphia

SteelMuseum
Blast Furnaces, foreground, and Coke Plant, background, c1962 National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum
Started operations at this location in 1832, and it was bought out in 1977. "In 1920, the company produced about 500,000 tons of steel a year."

Andrew Denelsbeck shared a post that has three of the above photos.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Andrew's share
The open hearth building east of Conshohocken Road and the blast furnaces west of the river are now gone, but there are more mill buildings now than there were in 1952.
1952 Norristown Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Even though the Pennsylvania Railroad went right next to the mills, it is on a lower grade. It appears the plant was served by the Reading Railroad. The bridge would have been a hot metal bridge because molten iron would have to be transported from the blast furnaces on the west side of the river to the open hearth furnaces on the east side of the river.

Satellite

"In 1947 the Wood family repurchased control of the company and continued to modernize, installing a Cold Rolled Department in 1954, a Research Department in 1958, an iron powder plant in 1959 and a basic oxygen furnace in 1968. It also attempted to integrate forward by buying the steel locker and shelving business of the Penn Metals Company in 1955." [snaccooperative]