Steelmaking Capital of the World

Steelmaking Capital of the World. Homestead Steel Works. For over a century, the massive Homestead Steel Works defined the Pittsburgh Region as the steelmaking capital of the world. Opened in 1881 by a handful of industrialists eager to take part in the industrial boom, the Homestead Works flourished after Andrew Carnegie purchased it in 1883. In 1901, when J.P. Morgan bought Carnegie's holdings and formed United States Steel, the Homestead Works was poised to become one of Unites States Steel's most important mills. , , At its height, the Homestead Works had an annual capacity of more than nine million tons of steel used to manufacture a variety of products. , , Homestead rolled armor plate for ships and tanks. It produced beams and steel pilings for buildings, locks, dams and bridges. Axles and wheels from Homestead kept passenger and freight traffic rolling on the world's railroads. , , When the Homestead Works shut down in 1986, the mill occupied 430 acres atop which were 450 buildings. Through the years it had employed 200,000 workers and made unprecedented amounts of steel.