Bethlehem Steel - Johnstown Works

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These are the various facilities of the old Johnstown Works (aka Johnstown Plant) that closed in 1992. The sites are (west to east): Lower Works, Gautier Plant, Franklin Plant, and Wheel Mill. The Rod and Wire Plant in Morrellville continues to operate as Johnstown Wire Technologies and has its own place mark. Also, Gautier Steel operates within part of the Gautier Plant. (see gautiersteel.com/ )

The Cambria Iron Company, founded in 1852, was established to supply iron rails for the burgeoning rainroad network. COnstruction of 4 coke blast furnaces and a rolling mill began, and local and regional sources of water, coal, timber and iron ore were utilized to feed the ironmaking process. The plant grew, adopted the Bessemer and open hearth steelmaking processes, and became the largest works in the US by the 1870s. The capacity to produce manufactured rods, parts for agricultural implements and wire drawing was added in 1878 with the building of the Gautier Works.

The formation of the Cambria Steel Company in 1898 signalled massive growth, with the construction of several plants. A new facility for wire products was built in 1911 after Gautier's destruction in the 1889 Johnstown Flood.

Initial construction of the Franklin Plant began in 1898 and additions continued throughout several decades. This plant contained large rolling mills, a byproduct coke plant, blast furnaces, open hearth furnaces, and a steel car manufacturing facility. More building occurred when the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company assumed control of the plant in 1916. The manufacture of rolled freight car wheels and other circular products began with the Wheel Plant's construction in 1917-18.

In 1923 Bethlehem Steel Company acquired the entire Johnstown Plant and embarked upon a major modification plan which turned the facilities into a modern and coordinated steel mill. The Johnstown Plant, as it has evolved from the initial Cambria Iron Works, ultimately extended for about 12 miles along the Conemaugh and Little Conemaugh Rivers.

Although the steel works has long since closed, most of the buildings remain. In 1988, Johnstown was identified as one of two sites having the most intact structures dating from the nation's earliest steel companies. The Cambria Ironworks was listed as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1989, and remains the only American steel mill to have received this designation. The many other buildings and structures have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For a history of steelmaking in Johnstown, see www.webcitation.org/5mexvukpc