Bethlehem Steel Corporation

Variant names
Dates:
Active 1933
Active 1939

History notes:

The Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, formed in Pennsylvania during the 1840's moved to a West Seneca, N.Y. site in 1899. Steelmaking began in 1903 and by 1909 the City of Lackawanna had been established around the steel plant. Purchased by Bethlehem Steel in 1922, the facility expanded until employment reached over 20,000 in the mid - 1950's. Decline in the 1970's led to the closing of the Lackawanna Plant in 1983.

From the description of Bethlehem Steel Corporation photographs, 1947 Mar. 20-1965 Dec. 28 : Lackawanna, N.Y. (Buffalo History Museum). WorldCat record id: 24146816

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was the number two steel producer in the United States between 1916 and 1984. For a time it was also the largest shipbuilding firm in the world.

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was incorporated in New Jersey on December 10, 1904, to effect the reorganization of the United States Shipbuilding Company of 1902. Bethlehem was a holding company whose purpose was to control the older Bethlehem Steel Company and a series of shipyards in Elizabeth, N.J., Wilmington, Del., and San Francisco, Calif.

The company was controlled by Charles M. Schwab until his death in 1939. In addition to steel ships, Bethlehem was a major producer of armor plate and ordnance and soon ranked on a par with Krupp, Armstrong's and the other big European munitions makers. It also pioneered in structural steel, manufacturing the rolled wide-flange columns and beams invented by Henry Grey.

Bethlehem grew rapidly by absorbing competitors. Its principal acquisitions were the Fore River Shipbuilding Company (1913), the Pennsylvania and Maryland Steel Companies (1916), the Lackawanna Steel Company (1922), and the Midvale Steel & Ordnance Company (1923). A second round of acquisitions, including the Pacific Coast Steel Company (1930), the McClintic-Marshall Corporation (1931) and the Kalman Steel Company (1931), expanded Bethlehem's reach into other areas of the country and strengthened its position in structural steel fabrication and as a supplier to the new manufacturers of consumer goods.

Like all domestic steel makers, Bethlehem was increasingly vulnerable to competition from non-union minimills and foreign producers, particularly after 1973. A drastic downsizing program between 1977 and 1990 temporarily eliminated massive annual losses. In the process, the company lost its number-two ranking, its fabrication and special product divisions, and its self-sufficiency in raw materials. Iron and steel production at the original Bethlehem site ceased in 1995, followed by the rolling mill in 1997 and the coke works in 1998. Bethlehem acquired the properties of Lukens Inc., a specialty plate manufacturer on May 29, 1998. With the end of the boom of the 1990s, Bethlehem filed for bankruptcy on October 15, 2002. The company's remaining assets were sold to International Steel Group Inc. on May 7, 2003.

From the description of Records, 1714-1982. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122516194

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Subjects:

  • Armor-plate
  • Battleships
  • Blast furnaces
  • Boarding schools
  • Bonus system
  • Bridges
  • Building, Iron and steel
  • Coal mines and mining
  • Coke plants
  • Company unions
  • Concessions
  • Destroyers (Warships)
  • Electric welding
  • Employee rules
  • Ferries
  • Gold mines and mining
  • Industrial efficiency
  • Industrial housing
  • Industrial welfare
  • Iron industry and trade
  • Iron and steel workers
  • Iron mines and mining
  • Ironwork
  • Liberty (ship)
  • Marine engines
  • Marine turbines
  • Ordnance
  • Piecework
  • Prefabricated houses
  • Projectiles
  • Railroad rails
  • Railroads, Cable
  • Rationing
  • Roe puddling process
  • Shipbuilding industry
  • Steamboats
  • Steel foundries
  • Steel industry and trade
  • Steel, Structural
  • Steel-works
  • Structural steel industry
  • Submarines (Ships)
  • Tankers
  • Tool-steel
  • Tug boats
  • World War, 1914-1918
  • Wire rope
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945

Occupations:

not available for this record

Places:

  • California (as recorded)
  • China (as recorded)
  • Hell Gate Bridge (New York, N.Y.) (as recorded)
  • Pennsylvania (as recorded)
  • New York (State) (as recorded)
  • George Washington Bridge (New York, N.Y.) (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--Buffalo (as recorded)
  • Maryland (as recorded)
  • Minnesota (as recorded)
  • Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, Calif.) (as recorded)
  • Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site (Saugus, Mass.) (as recorded)
  • Benjamin Franklin Bridge (Philadelphia, Pa.) (as recorded)
  • Johnstown (Pa.) (as recorded)
  • Cuba (as recorded)
  • Massachusetts (as recorded)
  • Queensboro Bridge (New York, N.Y.) (as recorded)
  • Colorado (as recorded)
  • San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (Oakland and San Francisco, Calif.) (as recorded)
  • Buffalo (N.Y.) (as recorded)
  • Williamsburg Bridge (New York, N.Y.) (as recorded)
  • Ambassador Bridge (Detroit, Mich. and Windsor, Ont.) (as recorded)
  • Holland Tunnel (New York, N.Y.) (as recorded)

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