Carnegie Steel Company

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Carnegie Steel Company
Productssteel, coal, coke, flat-rolled and tubular steel products, railroad rails
Servicesmanufacturing
Blast furnaces and iron ore at the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation mills in 1941

Carnegie Steel Company was a

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was formed in 1892 and was subsequently sold in 1901 in one of the largest business transactions of the early 20th century, to become the major component of U.S. Steel
. The sale made Carnegie one of the richest men in history.

Creation

Carnegie began the construction of his first

Braddock, Pennsylvania.[1] The Thomson Steel Works began producing rails in 1874.[2] By a combination of low wages, efficient technology infrastructure investment and an efficient organization, the mill produced cheap steel, which sold for a large profit in the growing markets of industrial development. Carnegie alone estimated that 40% was returned on the investment, i.e., a profit of $40,000 from a $100,000 investment in the mill.[3]

The profits made by the Edgar Thomson Steel Works were substantial enough to let Carnegie and his partners, including

George Lauder, and Henry Phipps Jr., buy other nearby steel mills. These included the Homestead Steel Works, which Carnegie acquired in 1883.[4] The presence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio
rivers provided transport for the heavy materials used in steel production. Each plant was near to or alongside a river.

Carnegie agreed to Frick's subsequent proposal that the various plants and assets, including H. C. Frick & Company, be consolidated into a single company. This consolidation occurred on July 1, 1892, with the formation of the Carnegie Steel Company.[5]

Operations

The company headquarters were located in the

early skyscraper in Downtown Pittsburgh.[6] Built to show its use of steel in its construction, the building was fifteen stories high and was left uncovered for a full year. The Carnegie Building was demolished in 1952.[7]

Carnegie Steel made major technological innovations in the 1880s, especially the installation of the

Homestead Strike along with demands for reduced working hours and against pay cuts. After the unsuccessful strike the company continued to expand and profits grew year on year, with the company having earned net profits of $21 million in 1899.[8]

U. S. Steel) in the vicinity of Pittsburgh
.

Carnegie Operations[9]
Name Location Rail Service Type of Facility
Carnegie Carrie Furnaces Rankin Union RR Steel Mill – 5 Blast furnace stacks
Clark works Pittsburgh Allegheny Valley Hoops, bands, light rails
Donora works Donora Pgh, Virginia & Charleston Steel Mill – 2 Blast furnace stacks
Duquesne works Cochran Union RR Steel Mill – 4 Blast furnace stacks
Edgar Thomson works Braddock Union RR Steel Mill – 11 Blast furnace stacks
Homestead works Munhall Union RR Steel Mill
Howard axle works Howard Union RR Forge
Isabella furnaces Etna West Penn Steel Mill – 3 Blast furnace stacks
Lower Union Mills Pittsburgh Allegheny Valley Iron Mill
Lucy furnaces Pittsburgh Allegheny Valley Steel Mill – 2 Blast furnace stacks
Monessen works Monessen Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Rolling Mill and Steel works
McCutcheon works Allegheny Pittsburgh and Western Hoops, bands, light rails
Painter works South Side Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Processing
Upper Union mills Pittsburgh Allegheny Valley Iron Mill
Galvanizing plant South Side Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Processing

Sale

Carnegie Steel Company was sold in 1901 to

subsidiary companies. The name of the subsidiary company was changed to the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company
in 1936.

See also

References

  1. ^ Nasaw, D., 2006, p. 144
  2. ^ Nasaw, D., 2006, p. 161
  3. ^ Nasaw, D., 2006, p. 170
  4. ^ "Rivers of Steel – Homestead Works". Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  5. ^ Nasaw, D., 2006, p. 396
  6. ^ "Mellon Square". Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
  7. ^ "Pittsburgh's Feuding Architectural Landscape. And a Bell Tower". Doors Open Pittsburgh. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  8. ^ Nasaw, D., 2006, p. 578
  9. ^ "Map of the Pittsburgh district showing railroad terminals and location of iron and steel works having track connections (circa 1906)".
  10. ^ Nasaw, D., 2006, pp. 580–588
  11. ^ "History of United States Steel Corporation – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  12. ^ Nasaw, D., 2006, p. 687

Further reading

External links