Homestead Steel Mill Stacks!

What Are the Homestead Steel Mill Stacks?

These twelve stacks are the last remaining structures of the Homestead Works’ 45-Inch Mill!

What Makes Them Historical?

The Homestead Works, part of Andrew Carnegie’s steel empire, opened up in 1881, and the stacks from this mill worked as vents for the 2250°F soaking pits that heated up steel ingots for rolling!

The Homestead Works are part of a Nationally Registered historic district as the setting of the Homestead strike of July 1892! The strike began in response to Carnegie Steel chairman, Henry Frick, cutting wages, locking out workers, and refusing to negotiate with the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers!

With strikebreakers, or scabs, already hired, Mr. Frick hired 300 Pinkerton detectives to protect them from the unionized workers. As the detectives approached on the Monongahela River, the workers shot at them to keep them from coming ashore! Though the Pinkertons surrendered, the governor set in the National Guard who placed the entire town under martial law. The union eventually backed down, and Mr. Carnegie cut wages and jobs, and implemented a 12-hour work day!

While the strike did lead to 26 states outlawing the use of Pinkerton agents in labor disputes, it also destroyed steel unions until the outbreak of World War I!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Volunteer with Rivers of Steel!
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Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!