One Of The Hardest Jobs In The World
A Day In The Life: A Tough Job Has Its Rewards
Former steelworkers reflect on the challenges and rewards of their occupation:
"I remember the first day I was on the job and I was like 'Oh my god, this is hell! Smoke and fire, it was just incredible. I almost ran out of there, it was like a dungeon."
- Guillermo Lopez
Coke Works: Millwright
"The rigger shop was next to us, so sometimes the riggers would come through. And they were like the motorcycle gang of Bethlehem Steel. These guys were mean looking, bearded, risk takers..."
- Eric Quimby
No. 2 Machine Shop: Floor Hand
"The best thing about working in the plant was the friendship, the community of the fellow steelworkers, remembering all the good times you had sitting on the lunch benches, sitting around the lunch table with the guys discussing their personal lives..."
- Pete DePietro
Truck Driver
[Photo captions, from left to right, read]
• Worker running a Medart straightener, c. 1900.
• Ronald Meitzler and Elias Richie working the last night of blast furnace operation, November 18, 1995.
• A steelworker repairs a crack with oxygen melting-also known as flame scarfing-in a large press in the Forging Department.
• Cast iron or blast furnace pig iron being lip-poured
this page online
Erected by SteelStacks. (Marker Number 14.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features. A significant historical year for this entry is 1900.
Location. 40° 36.903′ N, 75° 21.971′ W. Marker is in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in Northampton County. Marker is on the Hoover-Mason Trestle at SteelStacks. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 711 East 1st Street, Bethlehem PA 18015, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. A Legacy of Steel (within shouting distance of this marker); The Bethlehem Beam (within shouting distance of this marker); Bethlehem Built (within shouting distance of this marker); The Blower House (within shouting distance of this marker); The Flow Of Goods & Money (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Why Did Bethlehem Close? (about 400 feet away); A Community of Workers (about 400 feet away); Non-Native Plants (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bethlehem.
Also see . . .
1. Bethlehem Steel: Forging America. (Submitted on February 9, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
2. Bethlehem Steel Corporation. (Submitted on February 9, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
3. Steelworkers' Archives
4. What is SteelStacks?. (Submitted on February 9, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
Credits. This page was last revised on February 9, 2018. It was originally submitted on February 9, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 253 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 9, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
