Joliet Iron and Steel Works

Infobox nrhp
name = Joliet Steel Works

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caption = 1901 photo of the steel works at Joliet
locmapin = Illinois
lat_degrees = 41
lat_minutes = 32
lat_seconds = 21.46
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 88
long_minutes = 4
long_seconds = 31.66
long_direction = W
location = Joliet, Illinois
nearest_city = Chicago
area =
built =
architect =
architecture =
designated =
added = 1991-02-28
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 91000088
governing_body = USX Realty, Upper Illinois Valley Association [cite journal|last=Collaton|first=Elizabeth|coauthors=Charles Bartsch|date=September 1996|title=Industrial Site Reuse and Urban Redevelopment- An Overview|journal=Cityscape|volume=2|issue=3|pages=54-55|url=http://www.huduser.org/Periodicals/CITYSCPE/VOL2NUM3/collaton.pdf|accessdate=2008-06-05]

The Joliet Iron and Steel Works, also called the Joliet Iron Works and the Joliet Steel Works, was once the second largest steel mill in the United States,cite book
last=Schultz
first=Mark
chapter=Awakening the Historical Imagination
editor=Nancy Workman and Therese Jones
title=Dimensions of Curiosity: Liberal Learning in the 21st Century
publisher=University Press of America
date=2004-03-15
isbn=0761827609
page=39] and was initially run from 1869 to 1936.cite book|author=National Park Service|title=National Register of Historic Places 1966 to 1994|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|date=1995|isbn=0471144037|page=201] [cite book|last=Warren|first=Kenneth|title=Big Steel: The First Century of the United States Steel Corporation, 1901-2001|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|date=2001|ISBN=0822941600|page=266]

Though the mill was reopened, it eventually became unprofitable and all operations were ceased by the early 1980s. [Warren, 332.]

In the 1990s, the Forest Preserve District of Will County set up a historic site at the ruins of the ironworks, complete with a mile-long hiking path and signs describing the significance of the ruins. [cite web|url=http://www.fpdwc.org/ironworks.cfm|title=Joliet Iron Works Historic Site|publisher=Forest Preserve District of Will County|accessdate=2008-06-05]

History

The works were originally owned and operated by the Joliet Steel Company, which was acquired by the Illinois Steel Company shortly after its formation in 1889. In turn, Illinois Steel was acquired by Federal Steel, which went on to be central in the formation of U.S. Steel. [cite book|last=Pacyga|first=Dominic|title=Polish Immigrants and Industrial Chicago: Workers on the South Side, 1880-1922|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=2003-11-01|isbn=0226644243|page=30] [cite journal|last=Robinson|first=Maurice|date=June 1915|title=The Distribution of Securities in the Formation of the United States Steel Corporation|journal=Political Science Quarterly|publisher=The Academy of Political Science|volume=30|issue=2|issn=00323195|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2141923|accessdate=2008-06-05|pages=283] [Warren, 53.]

The rolling mill portion of the works struck its first blow in March 1873. [cite book|last=Misa|first=Thomas|title=A Nation of Steel: The Making of Modern America, 1865-1925|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|date=1998-09-08|isbn=0801860520|page=22]

The site

The works had a dam on the Des Plaines River for power and four blast furnaces capable of producing up to 2,000 tons of pig iron daily. [cite book|last=Ridgley|first=Douglas|title=The Geography of Illinois|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|date=May 1921|page=279]

Labor

The workers at the Joliet works were involved in the Steel Strike of 1919. [cite book|last=Brody|first=David|title=Labor in Crisis: The Steel strike of 1919|publisher=University of Illinois Press|date=1987-07-01|isbn=0252013735|page=112]

Around 1926 the steel works employed approximately 4000 workers. [cite journal|last=Close|first=Charles|date=January 1926|title=Safety in the Steel Industry|journal=Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|publisher=SAGE Publications|volume=123|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/1015456|accessdate=2008-06-05|page=92]

ee also

* Iron
* Steel
* Steelmaking
* Extraction of iron
* Coke (fuel)
* American Iron and Steel Institute

References