Towns and Nature: September 2026

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

New Kensington, PA: 1891 Alcoa Plant and 1930 Technical Center

Plant: (Satellite, on a satellite image I accessed in Sep 2026, parts of the site was still brownland. But it looks like they are building some warehouses.)

Tech Center: (Satellite)

The old and new headquarters buildings were in Pittsburgh.

Sean Brady posted two photos with the comment:

ALCOA PITTSBURG - 1947
INGERSOLL ALUMINUM SCALPING MACH. FOR MILLING SCALE FROM CAST ALUMINUM BILLETS BEFORE ROLLING THEM. IT MILLS OFF 1/4” TO 3/8" IN JUST A FEW SECONDS. CUTTER IS DRIVEN BY 800HP MOTOR.

alcoa_history
In 1891, Alcoa/Pittsburgh Reduction Co. moved its operations from Pittsburgh to New Kensington.

By 1940, it had grown considerably.

HistoricPittsburgh, cropped
[The birdge is the C. L. Schmitt Bridge.]

In fact, that growth had occurred by this 1925 photo. The operation extended several blocks up the Allegheny River.

HistoricPittsburgh, cropped
[The webpage documents this as Pittsburgh, but the 1940 photo above confirms that this is in New Kensington.]

The building in the right background of the 1940 photos appears to be extant.

Street View, Sep 2018

1930:

alcoa_history

The World’s First Aluminum Research Laboratory

On a hill overlooking the Allegheny River and Alcoa's production facility along its banks in Pittsburgh, the company builds a campus-like facility dedicated to finding new aluminum applications, testing its performance and improving production processes.

HistoricPittsburgh, cropped
"The Aluminum Company of America's (Alcoa) Aluminum Research Laboratories in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, contained scientific research equipment, including the Templin precision metal-working machine, used for testing specimens. It is the most powerful machine of its kind in the world and can exert a force up to 3,000,000 lbs. in compression and 1,000,000 lbs. in tension at speeds up to 36 inches a minute."

This research facility is extant.

Satellite

HistoricPittsburgh, cropped
"Description of the photograph reads, 'Alcoa research technicians making strength tests on an aluminum alloy structural beams. Countless tests on aluminum and its alloys are constantly being conducted at Alcoa's laboratories.'"

1903:

alcoa_history

Alcoa Aluminum Gives Flight to Wright Brothers Invention

The world’s first flying machine is powered by an aluminum heart made from Alcoa’s new metal. To save weight, the engine block and crankcase of the Wright Brothers' historic "Flyer" are cast from aluminum supplied by The Pittsburgh Reduction Company.

1916:

alcoa_history

First Aerospace Alloy

Alcoa's first aerospace alloy, 2017-T4, is a critical material for building the historic USS Shenandoah rigid airship. A century later, 2017-T4 is still used for aircraft sheet and plate. More than 90% of all alloys currently used in the aerospace industry were developed by Alcoa research.

1962: I was wondering the other month when the "pop top" was invented. I can remember as a kid having to remember to pack a can opener. I think the pop top was ubiquitous by the end of the 1960s. That original version of the pop top came off the can. They became a serious pollution problem. So they invented a version that hinged a flap out of the way into the can. But note how narrow the opening was. Today's wide mouth was the next innovation.

alcoa_history

The Can Opener Becomes Extinct

Alcoa works with the Pittsburgh Brewing Company to introduce easy-open aluminum pull tabs on cans of Pittsburgh Brewing's Iron City beer. Today, because of innovations like the pull tab, and because of aluminum's recyclability, the canned beverage market is virtually 100% aluminum.

Pittsburgh, PA: Alcoa Headquarters Buildings

Current World Headquarters: (Satellite)

1953 Headquarters Alcoa Building: (Satellite, this has been converted to apartments.)

Technical Center: (Satellite)

I knew that the Pittsburgh area made a lot of steel. I've learned that it also made aluminum.

In fact, one of the inventors of the Hall-Héroult Process (electrolysis), Charles Martin Hall, founded the Pittsburgh Reduction Co. in 1888 in Pittsburgh. [alcoa_history]

The manufacturing facility was in New Kensington. The research facility is still there.

In 1953 they completed the Alcoa Building. It is completely clad with aluminum. It was the headquarters for over 40 years.

HistoricPittsburgh
''The Alcoa Building (center), located at 425 6th Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, used aluminum wherever possible including aluminum furniture, aluminum piping and wiring, and aluminum air-conditioning ducts. Its thirty-story tower is lighter and more efficient than buildings of comparable size at the time of its construction. The entire exterior wall of the structure was built using prefabricated aluminum sheets that contained both windows and the floor zone. These windows swung open in special inflatable rubber gaskets containing neoprene that minimized heat from the sun's rays and also required minimal cleaning and maintenance on the exterior. Construction began in 1951 and was completed in 1953. The architectural firms involved on this project were Harrison & Abramovitz, along with Altenhof & Bown and Mitchell & Ritchey. The Alcoa Building stands on the site of the renowned Beaux Arts-style Nixon Theater and the building is presently referred to as the Regional Enterprise Tower. Mellon Park is in the center foreground."

It was then converted to residential units.

PMC

1952:

alcoa_history

First Aluminum-Sheathed High-Rise Building

Featuring an all-aluminum exterior and many other innovative architectural elements, the Alcoa Building in Downtown Pittsburgh is completed. It will serve as the company’s headquarters for more than 40 years. It also ushers in a new era of high-rise buildings clad in Alcoa aluminum.

The round-corner windows are a maintenance issue. [reddit]