Bethlehem in Northampton County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Steel Production

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., June 30, 2024

1. Steel Production Marker

Inscription.

Only five years after ironmaking began on this site, company leadership realized the importance in transitioning to steelmaking to remain competitive. Iron was first transformed into steel in 1873 in Bessemer converters, one block to the west. Higher quality and quantity of steel primarily emerged from the open hearth furnaces inside the plant from the late 1880s until 1969.

Both the open hearth, and later basic oxygen furnaces, made steel by lowering the carbon content in molten iron, delivered by railroad cars from the blast furnaces, and combining it with scrap steel. The smaller Electric Furnace Melt Shop did not receive molten metal, but melted scrap and other ingredients to create specialized alloy steels for a variety of end uses, from hand files to nuclear reactors.

[Photo caption reads]
Workers teeming (pouring) molten steel into ingot molds.

Erected by National Museum of Industrial History.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1873.

Location. 40° 36.772′ N, 75° 22.194′ W. Marker is in Bethlehem,

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Pennsylvania, in Northampton County. It is at the intersection of 3rd Street and Pierce Street, on the left when traveling east on 3rd Street. Marker is in Foundry Park, near the National Museum of Industrial History. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 602 East 2nd Street, Bethlehem PA 18015, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Pennsylvania and in Lehigh Valley.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Charging Machine (here, next to this marker); Hoisting Engine No. 1 (here, next to this marker); Electric Arc Furnace (here, next to this marker); Bending Press (here, next to this marker); Ladles (here, next to this marker); Ingot Mold (here, next to this marker); Forging & Finished Products (here, next to this

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., June 30, 2024

2. Steel Production Marker

marker); Hoisting Engine No. 5 (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bethlehem.

Also see . . .
1. Bethlehem Steel: The Rise and Fall of an Industrial Titan (Roth, Pennsylvania History, 2020). (Submitted on July 11, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
2. National Museum of Industrial History. (Submitted on July 11, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 11, 2024. It was originally submitted on July 11, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 163 times since then and 36 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 11, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.