Steel Mill

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BobH

Administrator
Staff member
Very nice! The night lighting does wonders for those shots!

Yes folks, that really is West Seattle, right at the end of the West Seattle bridge. How it's managed to survive there all these years is a mystery to me... You wouldn't think the folks of Seattle would like steel mills.
 
Answer for Bob' s quote
Very nice! The night lighting does wonders for those shots! Yes folks, that really is West Seattle, right at the end of the West Seattle bridge. How it's managed to survive there all these years is a mystery to me... You wouldn't think the folks of Seattle would like steel mills.

Thanks Bob, I thought the lights made the steel mill pop out and it turned out amazing. I looked the steel mill up and found this on their site:
Nucor Steel Seattle is a proud member of the Nucor Bar Mill Group. Since 1904 our facility once proclaimed as "Seattle Little Pittsburgh" has continually strived to be the safest, community oriented, environmentally responsible, and profitable business we can be. Our customer base is spread throughout the Pacific Northwest, northern California and Canada. We have the flexibility to deliver on hundreds of grades, shapes and lengths to fit your specific application. © NUCOR BAR MILL GROUP

Answer for JaniceL's quote
I don't typically think of Seattle as a home for a steel mill.

As far as steel mills go, I think its pretty neat West Seattle still operates one. I mean there are plenty of other factories around but a majority of them are in Georgetown. Georgetown is mostly an industrial area where a lot of factories are.

Answer for Robarooni's quote
Nice shots of this place! I am wondering where your vantage point was?

I took these photos from a viewpoint right before you enter the West Seattle Bridge where SW Avalon Way and Harbor Ave SW connect up.
 

squirl033

Super Moderator
Staff member
How it's managed to survive there all these years is a mystery to me... You wouldn't think the folks of Seattle would like steel mills.

they probably don't, but if it's the one i think it is - the old Bethlehem Steel mill down there at the bottom of Delridge Way - the place has been there for close to 100 years, and it's kinda "grandfathered in"...
 
Answer for squirl033's quote
they probably don't, but if it's the one i think it is - the old Bethlehem Steel mill down there at the bottom of Delridge Way - the place has been there for close to 100 years, and it's kinda "grandfathered in"...

Actually you have the wrong place squirl033, the old Bethlehem Steel mill is located in Bethlehem, PA. The one here in West Seattle is Nucor Steel Seattle. Here is the website for more information http://www.nucorbar.com/locations.aspx?i=9
 

squirl033

Super Moderator
Staff member
Answer for squirl033's quote


Actually you have the wrong place squirl033, the old Bethlehem Steel mill is located in Bethlehem, PA. The one here in West Seattle is Nucor Steel Seattle. Here is the website for more information http://www.nucorbar.com/locations.aspx?i=9

maybe i'm thinking of someplace else... then again, i know Bethlehem operated one in that area till sometime in the mid-80's - i remember driving past it on my way to visit friends in West Seattle - but maybe the Nucor mill isn't the old Bethlehem one... either way, i'm sure the environmentalists would much prefer it if all those old mills just went away.
 
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BobH

Administrator
Staff member
Answer for squirl033's quote


Actually you have the wrong place squirl033, the old Bethlehem Steel mill is located in Bethlehem, PA. The one here in West Seattle is Nucor Steel Seattle. Here is the website for more information http://www.nucorbar.com/locations.aspx?i=9

"Bethlehem Steel" is a name brand, and while the headquarters was located in, well, you guessed it, Bethlehem, PA, they had plants all around the country.

When built, that plant was owned by Bethlehem Steel, as part of their "Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel" operations.

It was also owned by Birmingham Steel at some point, and is currently owned by NuCor. I don't know the exact history, and there may have been other owners at some point too.

Here are some neat old photos of the plant being expanded in the 1950's

http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.o...hlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp. and Seattle

Here's a nice aerial shot:
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.o...nd+Seattle+&stemming=&phonic=&fuzzy=&maxfiles=
 

BobH

Administrator
Staff member
maybe i'm thinking of someplace else... then again, i know Bethlehem operated one in that area till sometime in the mid-80's - i remember driving past it on my way to visit friends in West Seattle - but maybe the Nucor mill isn't the old Bethlehem one... either way, i'm sure the environmentalists would much prefer it if all those old mills just went away.

You're right Ja.. (fooled ya! :)) Rocky. That's the same plant. In fact, as far as I know, it's the only steel plant in Seattle. There are some foundries around town, but this is the only actual steel mill at least as far I can tell.

A bit more searching found the history: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=3175

Seattle Steel Co. begins manufacturing steel products on May 4, 1905.

HistoryLink.org Essay 3175 :

On May 4, 1905, Seattle Steel Co. begins manufacturing steel products in Humphrey (later Youngstown and West Seattle). The founder is William Pigott (1860-1929), who also founded Pacific Car and Foundry Co. (PACCAR). The mill employs 140 men with a monthly payroll of $10,000.

William Pigott came to Seattle from Ohio, New York, and Colorado in 1896.

He ran several businesses selling and fabricating steel products for logging camps and logging railroads. With his partner Judge Elliott M. Wilson (d. 1927), Pigott incorporated Seattle Steel Co. in 1903. They constructed eight frame buildings on 55 acres of tideflats purchased from the Northern Pacific Railroad. The buildings housed a heating room, a scrap room, a rolling mill, and offices. Scrap steel was the principal feed stock. The Seattle Sunday Times hailed the plant as "Seattle's Little Pittsburgh." This mill became the first steel mill in the United States to offer workers an eight-hour day.

In 1905, Pigott incorporated Seattle Car Manufacturing Co. on the same property. This company moved to Renton in 1908 and was renamed Pacific Car and Foundry Co. in 1917.

In 1913, Seattle Steel merged with a San Francisco firm and became Pacific Coast Steel. The business grew to more than 500 employees in 1927. In 1930, Bethlehem Steel Co. purchased the mill, and operated it until 1985, when it was purchased by Carl E. Meitzen and Seattle Steel Co.

In 2001, the mill is operated by Birmingham Steel Co.

It was subsequently purchased by Nucor, though I don't recall the exact date.

For railroad and/or steel mill fans wanting a small taste of Pittsburgh, this is one of the few places in the Pacific Northwest that comes even close to what the Steel City is like. Of course the mills back there are usually much larger.
 
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