Old Dominion Iron and Steel

Old Dominion Iron and Steel. 150 Years of Industry on Belle Isle. , The factory remains before you were owned by Old Dominion Iron and Steel (formerly Belle Isle Works) which operated on this site from 1814-1972. As people harnessed the power of the James River, what began as a mill race and small nail factory quickly became a much larger operation., A partnership with the Richmond and Danville Railroad transported coal mined in nearby Chesterfield directly to the furnaces here on Belle Isle. Early owners claimed that coal could travel from the pit to the furnaces without being handled by men. This simplification of the process made business here very profitable. By the 1860's[SIC], Old Dominion Iron and Steel (ODIS) ran 48 nail factories, a granite quarry, a rolling mill, several sawmills, seven puddling furnaces, and three heating furnaces - all here on Belle Isle. ODIS was famous for its advanced metallurgy and casting abilities, which allowed it to produce nails, bar iron and boiler plates., More than 200 men worked here to process over 5,000 tons of iron annually. The company used both paid workers and slave labor, both before and after the American Civil War. ODIS employed approximately 200 free men and 23 enslaved men. After the War, a large number of the free workers and laborers were people of color. Work here was dangerous and difficult, and often resulted in injury or death., ODIS continued to flourish after the American Civil War, further developing its metallurgy and manufacturing techniques. From 1939-1945, metal hatches for tanks were forged here. The tanks were built by Chrysler Motors, and the structure became known as "The Chrysler Building."