Pittsburgh Steel Company
Donner Avenue - Monessen, Pennsylvania
JONES & LAUGHLIN STEEL WORKS
Southside, Pittsburgh
Industrial
Pittsburgh
"The Real Men of Steel"
ABOUT THESE PHOTOS:
These photos were donated to the SteelCactus Foundation by Douglas Haney.
Photos restored by the SteelCactus Foundation
Photo Antiquities Museum of Pittsburg
531 East Ohio Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
(412) 231-7881
THE ONLY MUSEUM LIKE IT IN THE U.S.!
See photos like these in their original form!
Plus the largest collection of cameras anywhere!
1968 Homestead Works
Installing 40 Foot Vertical Boring Mill
1968 Homestead Works
40 Foot Vertical Boring Machine
1968 Homestead Works
120 Inch Roll Turning Lathe
THE COLLAPSE OF STEEL IN PITTSBURGH
Free market pressures exposed the U.S. steel industry's own internal problems, which included a now-outdated manufacturing base that had been over-expanded
in the 1950s and 1960s, hostile management and labor relationships, the inflexibility of United Steelworkers regarding wage cuts and work-rule reforms,
oligarchic management styles, and poor strategic planning by both unions and management. In particular, Pittsburgh faced its own challenges. Local coke and
iron ore deposits were depleted, raising material costs. The large mills in the Pittsburgh region also faced competition from newer, more profitable "mini-mills"
and non-union mills with lower labor costs.

Beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the steel industry in Pittsburgh began to implode along with the deindustrialization of the U.S. Following the 1981â
€“1982 recession, for example, the mills laid off 153,000 workers. The steel mills began to shut down. These closures caused a ripple effect, as railroads, mines,
and other factories across the region lost business and closed. The local economy suffered a depression, marked by high unemployment and underemployment, as
laid-off workers took lower-paying, non-union jobs. Pittsburgh suffered as elsewhere in the Rust Belt with a declining population, and like many other U.S. cities,
it also saw white flight to the suburbs.

In 1984 the Homestead Works was demolished, replaced in 1999 by The Waterfront shopping mall. As a direct result of the loss of mill employment, the number
of people living in Homestead dwindled. By the time of the 2000 census, the borough population was 3,569. The borough began financially recovering in 2002, with
the enlarging retail tax base.