Bethlehem Steel Photo Gallery by Chuck Kuhn at pbase.com

Bethlehem Steel

One of the nation’s most important steel plants, the Bethlehem Works in Pennsylvania played a pioneering role in the development of America’s steel and defense industries. Steel from the Bethlehem Works was used to build the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, and to reconstruct the White House in the Truman era. Today, the sprawling mill lies dormant, in danger of being cleared for a retail complex or industrial park. Unless preservationists succeed in saving the birthplace of integrated steel-making, there might not be a single blast furnace, machine shop, foundry or crucible building left on the site of one of America’s – and the world’s – greatest industrial triumphs. As the birthplace of the modern American defense industry, the plant manufactured the first modern battle fleet for the U.S. Navy in 1885 and remained the nation’s largest shipbuilder and military supplier for generations. Some of steel-making’s most significant technological innovations – including the fully integrated Bessemer process, heavy steel forging, and the production of continuously wide flange structural beams and columns – were developed or perfected here. The site is unique because it possesses the greatest number of buildings, structures and equipment remaining of any shut-down steelmaking facility in the country. Now known as Bethlehem Works, the former plant, which closed in the mid-1990s, encompasses about 100 acres with more than 25 buildings and other structures dating from as early as 1863. Despite some basic infrastructure investment, virtually nothing has been done to protect the buildings, which have begun to experience deterioration and vandalism. Roofs are leaking and, in some cases, have blown off, and windows and doors have been broken and interior contents damaged. Because future ownership and development plans are in question, no significant steps are being taken to prevent further damage and deterioration. Despite vandalism and weather, the greatest threat lies in the probability of demolition. While it still owned the site, Bethlehem Steel Corporation developed a comprehensive master plan for the plant that would have retained key buildings and structures. This included investing approximately $13 million into new infrastructure for half of the site with new roads, utilities and streetscape improvements. However, when Bethlehem Steel lost the property in 2003 due to bankruptcy, the site’s future became uncertain. Update 2013 In 2007, the Bethlehem property was sold to Sands BethWorks, and plans to build a casino where the plant once stood were drafted. Construction began in fall 2007; the casino was completed in 2009. The casino had difficulty finding structural steel for construction due to a global steel shortage and pressure to build Pennsylvania's tax-generating casinos. 16,000 tons of steel were needed to build the $600 million complex.[17] The site of the company's original plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is home to SteelStacks, an arts and entertainment district. The plant's five blast furnaces were left standing and serve as a backdrop for the new campus. SteelStacks currently features the ArtsQuest Center, a contemporary performing arts center, the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, a gambling emporium, and PBS39, a community-owned public television station.[18] The area also includes three outdoor music venues – Levitt Pavilion, a free music venue featuring lawn seating for up to 2,500 people, Air Products Town Square at Steelstacks, and PNC Plaza, which hosts concerts featuring well-known artists.[19]

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Dan Greenberg		17-Dec-2018 06:35
Intriguing getting to see what it looked like in 2006. I went there in 2015 and was enthralled with the place and hope to get back there. You did an admirable job photographing and documenting it. ~V~

Mik Obermaier (England)		13-May-2010 09:10
Sometimes the word "Progress" is a misnomer, an oxymoron. It would be a crying shame if the Bethlehem Works were allowed to disappear, to be replaced by yet more boring retail parks. The fabulously, brutally ugly furnaces and workshops must be rescued and kept as a fundamental, iconic reminder of America's industrial heritage.

Tom Mezzo		10-Nov-2007 01:23
There is something very hauntingly real and alluring about those structures as they stand there vacant . Looking at those monstrous ,fearsome pipes and structures of Mammouth proportions, It gives one a great feeling of its once Mighty power. God Bless all the men and women that toiled here in the heat "so hot you forgot your fear of hell" as said in "The Quiet Man" John Ford's Famous movie! I believe that this structure should be preserved and the high grass cut and clean up the grounds and let the National Archives use this for their Industrial center show pieces of American historic engineering ! Great Photos! Absolutely stunning!

Tareq Rizk		13-Jan-2007 14:29
Who owns the copyright of the name 'Bethlehem Steel' now, if any one knows the answer I would appreciate his reply to my Email: rizk@link.net.

Ray Foote		10-Jan-2007 03:51
I visited the steel works several years ago to do my own photo shooting (in black and white), inspired not only by the company's history, but also by Walker Evans' famous photograph from the Depression era of the cemetary that overlooks the site. It's all pretty sad, and your photos capture the spirit of the place very artistically. Thanks.

Joe		25-Nov-2006 04:39
Others would photograph a memorable vacation, your photographs captured my heart. I look at this plant and see a place where generations of men and women that gave their working lives to produce American steel. God bless them Very nice photographs, and thank you for your effort.

Jean-Claude Liehn		04-Jul-2006 03:55
Nice gallery, in the classical documentary style. Very interesting.

Jakob Ehrensv�rd		12-Mar-2006 22:12
Very good shots indeed, perfectly capturing the sense of loneliness typically felt in places like this.

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