American Steel & Wire - Consolidated Works (Cleveland, Ohio)

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In 1878 Michael Baackes, known as the father of the wire nail industry, made the first steel nails from Bessemer steel produced by Cleveland Rolling Mills. The following year he moved to Cleveland and became engaged in the innovation of the continuous rod rolling which took place in the early 1880s. In 1890, Baackes together with investors from Cleveland Rolling Mills, established the Baackes Wire Nail Company. A rod mill was constructed in 1892 and by that year the plant had a capacity of 40,000 tons of rods, 40,000 tons of wire and 600,000 kegs of nails. The next year, the company, already the 7th largest nail maker in the country, failed as a result of extreme competition in the nail industry and the 1893 depression. Shortly thereafter in 1895, the company was acquired by Chicago based Consolidated Steel & Wire. Ruinous competition continued in the wire and nail industry until 1899 when US Steel formed American Steel & Wire after purchasing most wire and nail manufacturers.