Homestead Steel Works: Smokestacks

The Homestead Steel Works marked Western Pennsylvania as the steel capital of the world. Built in 1881, with facilities on both sides of the Monongahela River, the mill encompassed 430 acres and employed more than 200,000 workers through the years until it shut down in 1986. It was the site of one of the nation’s most dramatic and deadly labor conflicts. After extensive reinforcement, the smokestacks were preserved to become an iconic attraction at the Waterfront shopping center, which now occupies the mill’s old site.