The Illinois Steel Company was an American steel producer with five plants in Illinois and Wisconsin. Founded through a consolidation in 1889, Illinois Steel grew to become the largest steel producer in the United States. In 1898, several other steel and transportation companies were merged into it to form the Federal Steel Company, itself merged into U.S. Steel in 1901.
The first mill associated with the Illinois Steel Company was the North Chicago Rolling Mill, founded in Chicago, Illinois by Eber Brock Ward in 1857 as a mill to re-roll iron rails. [1] In 1865, this mill was converted into a steel mill, shortly after the Bessemer process was introduced. The Illinois Steel Company was founded in 1889 following the consolidation of three companies; The North Chicago Rolling Mill Company had plants in Chicago, South Chicago, Chicago (1880), and Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1868), The Union Iron Company (1863) of Chicago and the Joliet Steel Company (1870) were also involved in the merge. The company was based in the Rookery Building in downtown Chicago. Branch offices operated in the Empire Building in New York, New York; the Pioneer Press Building in Saint Paul, Minnesota; the Cuyahoga Building in Cleveland, Ohio; the Security Building in St. Louis, Missouri; and an office in Denver, Colorado. [2]
The Illinois Steel Company became the largest steel company in the state. The company also owned a controlling interest in the Chicago, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, coal mines in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, iron mines in Michigan and Wisconsin, and limestone mines in Indiana. Illinois Steel grew to become one of the largest steel and iron producers in the country by the late 1880s, producing over 1.1 million tons of pig iron and about one million tons of steel. The company specialized in rail track (including rail, fastenings, and steel plates), mineral wool, wire, pig iron, and hydraulic Portland cement. Railroads using Illinois Steel products included the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Wabash, Chicago & Alton, and Baltimore & Ohio. Pig iron operations were handled in conjunction with Pickands, Brown & Company. [2]
The success of Illinois Steel did not go unchecked. The Carnegie Steel Company had a more efficient operation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and sought to force Illinois Steel into receivership. Carnegie sold steel near Chicago at only eighteen cents a ton, forcing Illinois Steel to sell their products below production cost. The ploy worked and by 1896, Illinois Steel had drawn papers to place the company into receivership. Before these papers could be filed, however, Illinois Steel decided to focus on expanding their market to the west of Chicago, where Carnegie lacked sufficient supply lines. This strategy proved successful. [3]
In 1898, the Illinois Steel Company acquired the Minnesota Iron Company, Lorain Steel Company of Ohio, the Johnson Company of Pennsylvania, and the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, forming the Federal Steel Company. Upon completion of the merge, general counsel Elbert Henry Gary became president of the company.
In February 1901, Gary worked with J. P. Morgan to have him acquire Carnegie Steel. Days after the acquisition was approved, Gary announced his intent to merge Federal Steel into Carnegie to form what would be known as U.S. Steel. The new company began operations on April 1, 1901. [2]
Works include (with variations in attribution):
The Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, also known as J&L Steel or simply as J&L, was an American steel and iron manufacturer that operated from 1852 until 1968. Beginning as the American Iron Company, founded in 1852 by Bernard Lauth and Benjamin Franklin Jones, a few miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. Lauth's interest was bought in 1854 by James Laughlin. The first firm to bear the name of Jones and Laughlin was organized in 1861, and headquartered at Third & Ross in downtown Pittsburgh.
CB&I was a large engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company with its administrative headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. CB&I specializes in projects for oil and gas companies. CB&I employs more than 32,000 people worldwide. In May 2018 the company merged into McDermott International. McDermott struggled to integrate its acquisition of Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. On January 21, 2020, McDermott announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to asbestos litigation. A $22.5 million trust fund was made to handle asbestos claims.
Luten Bridge Company and variations such as Luten Engineering Company was the name of a number of different bridge building companies in the United States during the early- to mid-20th century. Each had rights to build concrete Luten arch bridges, according to the patented designs of Daniel B. Luten, of Indianapolis.
The Kansas City Bridge Company was a bridge building company that built many bridges throughout the Midwest United States in the early 1900s. The company was founded in 1893 and ceased business around 1960.
The Phoenix Iron Works, located in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, was a manufacturer of iron and related products during the 19th century and early 20th century. Phoenix Iron Company was a major producer of cannon for the Union Army during the American Civil War. The company also produced the Phoenix column, an advance in construction material. Company facilities are a core component of the Phoenixville Historic District, a National Register of Historic Places site that was in 2006 recognized as a historic landmark by ASM International.
The Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a major producer of iron and steel that operated independently from 1852 to 1916. The company adopted many innovations in the steelmaking process, including those of William Kelly and Henry Bessemer.
The King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company was a late-19th-century bridge building company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded by Zenas King (1818–1892) in 1858 and subsequently managed by his sons, James A. King and Harry W. King and then his grandson, Norman C. King, until the mid-1920s. Many of the bridges built by the company were used during America's expansion west in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and some of these bridges are still standing today.
The Western Bridge and Construction Company, located in Omaha, Nebraska, was one of the foremost bridge engineering and manufacturing companies in the Midwestern United States. Several of their bridges are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Their headquarters were located in the Bee Building in Downtown Omaha.
The Joliet Iron and Steel Works was once the second largest steel mill in the United States. Joliet Iron Works was initially run from 1869 to 1936. Joliet Steel Works eventually became unprofitable, and all operations were ceased by the early 1980s.
The Keystone Bridge Company, founded in 1865 by Andrew Carnegie, was an American bridge building company. It was one of the 28 companies absorbed into the American Bridge Company in 1900. The company advertised its services for building steel, wrought iron, wooden railway and road bridges. It held a patent for wrought iron bridges and also supplied wrought iron columns for buildings. Thomas Carnegie worked for Keystone Bridge as treasurer for roughly 20 years, from the founding of the company until his death in 1886.
The Berlin Iron Bridge Company was a Berlin, Connecticut company that built iron bridges and buildings that were supported by iron. It is credited as the architect of numerous bridges and buildings now listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It eventually became part of the American Bridge Company.
Canton Bridge Company was a firm that was later incorporated into the American Bridge Company. The firm was established in Canton, Ohio in 1892 and became one of the nation's biggest bridge-builders during the early 20th century. It designed and/or built many bridges that later became listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
The Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., also known as Missouri Valley Bridge Company, was a engineering, construction, and steel fabrication firm that operated through the late nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries. It was based in Leavenworth, Kansas, with a WWII facility in Evansville, Indiana.
Fargo Bridge & Iron Co. was a bridge company based in North Dakota in the early part of the 20th century.
Standard Bridge Company was an American bridge company that was "one of the most important bridge building firms in Nebraska history."
Clinton Bridge and Iron Works was a significant company in Clinton, Iowa.
Monarch Engineering Co. was an American firm of Denver, Colorado, active in engineering and construction services. John A. Crook and his brother, Guy A. Crook of Falls City, were founders of the Monarch Engineering company which had its origin and main offices at Falls City, with offices in Kansas City, and Denver. Under the management of these men the Monarch Engineering company had risen to become an important and prosperous concern and a vast amount of bridge construction, city paving, irrigation-dam building, and public building work has been done under their supervision. Within ten years after the firm had been in operation, or since 1908, its activities constantly increased and in 1917 they purchased the Denver Steel and Iron Works in order to facilitate the material supply part of the construction work in which they were engaged.
The Omaha Structural Steel Works was a company also known as Omaha Steel Works and as Omaha Structural Steel Bridge Co.in Omaha, Nebraska
The Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company, and often referred to as Pitt-Des Moines Steel or PDM was an American steel fabrication company. It operated from 1892 until approximately 2002 when its assets were sold to other companies, including Chicago Bridge & Iron Company. The company began as a builder of steel water tanks and bridges. It also later fabricated the "forked" columns for the World Trade Center in the 1960s, and was the steel fabricator and erector for the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. A number of its works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Milwaukee Bridge & Iron Works, also known as the Milwaukee Bridge Co. and as Milwaukee Bridge & Iron Co., was a firm based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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