rust jungle

[rustjungle]

Republic Steel Corp. Warren Works

Warren, O. - Mike from Steel Valley Artifacts shared these scans of original prints from his collection, and I would like to date them and put names to the faces.

These images of repair work on the Trumbull Cliffs blast furnace were acquired from Perc Kelty’s estate sale Perc was the chief photographer for the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., and it looks like he continued to work as an industrial photographer after Sheet & Tube folded.

The photos of sky crane flying parts up to the top of the furnace were found in a stack of images shot at the LTV Steel Tube works in Youngstown (Republic Steel Hazelton Works) and WCI Steel (Republic Steel Warren Works).

We are not sure if these photos were taken when LTV owned the mill or later when it was WCI. LTV, affectionately known as Liars-Thieves-Vultures or Leaving The Valley, rebuilt the furnace in 1981 and relined her in 1984. Any information on the date of these images would be appreciated.

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Looking at the former Youngstown Sheet & Tube Brier Hill Works open hearth building from the [demolished] former US Steel Ohio Works sinter plant circa 2005. #therustjungle #steelmill #steelvalley #steelindustry #youngstownsheetandtube #ussteel #steelton #demolished #industrialdecay (at Steelton, Youngstown) https://www.instagram.com/p/By2-r-eh-Ds/?igshid=tm22ysbvhc51

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. Brier Hill Works circa 2012. I believe I was standing in the area where the Grace furnace once was when I took this. I’m guessing the railroad ties stacked in the foreground were from the in plant railroads. In the background is Vallourec Steel (V&M Star Steel at that time). The building with the sign on it was the Sheet & Tube open hearth. My uncle told me how he got shipped up here from the Campbell Works during a shutdown one summer. Said he ended up on a labor gang relining the OH furnaces. It was so hot in the furnaces they had to strap wooden clogs to their boots so they wouldn’t melt standing on the floor. Sounded like a fun job to do in August. #therustjungle #steelmill #steelvalley #youngstownsheetandtube #brierhill #youngstown (at Itam Post 12) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byp_eGhB3YJ/?igshid=q62cmole7i2n

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Republic Steel Warren Works [WCI Steel] as seen from Pine Avenue on a warm summer night about a decade ago. #therustjungle #steelmill #steelvalley #warren #warrenohio #dubcity #republicsteel #wci #demolished (at WCI Steel) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByiDTQxBPgp/?igshid=1ic023bbcgsv1

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Video clip I forgot existed and found recently, taken inside of Dempsey Steel at the bottom of Trumbull Hill - Girard. O. I haven’t been able to find any info on this company but would love to hear from people who worked there or had family who did. This was taken during the demolition of the plant to make room for the pipe storage yard Vallourec Steel uses right off 422. Sound off because I use the F word as an adverb. #therustjungle #steelmill #steelvalley #girard #girardohio #demolished #industialarcheology (at Rolling Mills Bar & Grill) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByfUrfsh5dg/?igshid=diqurknujaqb

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Antique signage left behind by the former Copperweld Steel Co. It almost looks like the pattern of the bullet holes emulates the shape of the downcomer pipe behind the fence. I remember as a kid riding with my parents back to Youngstown from my grandparent’s on the west side of Warren. My mom’s dad worked here 33 years and still lived close to the mill. We would take route 82 back, or as Warren people say “The Bypass”. At night I saw all of the lights on at the mill (wasn’t shut down yet), in the day miles of that pale green fencing around the property. #therustjungle #steelmill #steelvalley #warren #warrenohio #copperweld (at Ohio Star Forge) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByS0J8LhcnZ/?igshid=bnsoxok94s94

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Big wrench for a big nut, stumbled across at the former Youngstown Sheet & Tube Campbell Works a decade or so ago. Fire hose for scale. #therustjungle #steelmill #steelvalley #steelindustry #youngstownsheetandtube #campbell #camel #ohio #youngstown (at Patsy's Bar & Grille) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByINQGIhzfK/?igshid=2j6ulsh3pefn

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Aerial view of the Trumbull Cliffs blast fce., Republic Steel Warren Works. The furnace was 300’ +/- for scale. Didn’t fly the drone, but hired DP Visual Media to capture flyover footage of the doomed furnace the day the demo permit was approved. Plenty of high res stills and 4K video where this came from. #therustjungle #steelmill #steelvalley #republicsteel #warren #warrenohio #demolished #industry #steelindustry (at WCI Steel) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxugkAnBCa9/?igshid=hhw8vk9nndwc

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Late night view of Republic Steel Niles plant, Niles, O. I think this was the first long exposure photo I’ve ever taken. Or the first one that came out. Took this from the rail road tracks behind the mill. Didn’t have a tripod, so balanced the body of the camera on a rail and built up a support for the lens by stacking limestone ballast. #therustjungle #steelvalley #steelmill #niles #nilesohio #dragontown #republic #republicsteel (at Niles Iron & Metal) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxkICOGBMVs/?igshid=1umz9jkbamso4

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PRESERVED: Had a $3 coupon for eBay so picked up this Sharon Steel ad out of the Saturday Evening Post. Maybe this was before headache racks, good thing this guy didn’t load them coils suicide style cause he would have gotten ran over if his chains broke. My pops put plenty of food on our table hauling steel coils. I think my uncle had one break free when he first started driving truck, and if I’m not mistaken that happened in Sharon. Maybe the onramp to 62. #therustjungle #steelvalley #steelmill #steelhauler #fash #sharonsteel #sharonpa (at Farrell, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxhsJKRBlC1/?igshid=1jl2e0ml4s1jq

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NOW: Still haven’t been allowed in an active mill in Youngstown, Ohio, but just got a tour of this one in the Youngstown neighborhood in Seattle. More to come. Before it was called Youngstown the area was known as Hubbard. It’s a long way from the Steel Valley but the guy that opened this mill as part of PACCAR in its early days learned the steel business working at the Andrews and Hitchcock furnace in Hubbard Ohio. #therustjungle #steelvalley #youngstown #seattle #pnw #steelmill (at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center) https://www.instagram.com/therustjungle/p/BxS2XTpBqLn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zipidkkf6cwb

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Natural light crawling into a cold boiler at Republic Rubber - Youngstown, O. Link to photos I’ve taken down there over the years in Facebook comments. #therustjungle #steelvalley #youngstown #youngstownohio #republicrubbercompany (at Youngstown U Pull It) https://www.instagram.com/therustjungle/p/BxKgWyoBOo4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=8dbg6ovw1f2l

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Obsolete doorways @ Republic Steel Niles plant circa mid 2000s. When Republic bought this plant during WWI there were twenty-eight sheet mills, two jobbing mills, five cold rolling mills, and a galvanizing plant. I believe an extrusion company rehabbed and uses this part of the mill now. #therustjungle #steelvalley #steelmill #niles #nilesohio #republicsteel (at Cleary's Bar in Niles, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/therustjungle/p/BxAF4wBBAI_/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=i0qc1374zg04

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Looking up at the stoves at the Carrie Furnaces at US Steel Homestead works outside of Pittsburgh. More photos in link in FB comments. This image is from 2013, went down there with my people from Acoustic Archives. They designed a 3D microphone complete with silicone human ears that allows them to capture the acoustics of a room exactly as your ears would hear it. I shot photos and they documented the acoustics of the shuttered mill, including inside of the hot metal rail car USS that sits on the property. Link to the video of their sound samples in my blog post. #therustjungle #steelcity #pittsburgh #412 #ussteel #carriefurnace #homesteadpa (at Rivers of Steel: Carrie Blast Furnaces) https://www.instagram.com/therustjungle/p/Bw4g3E-B--K/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1cdvw7vy4hg0p

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ORIGINAL CONTENT: Torched I beam looking like a fossil off Wilson Avenue. Guessing this was a structural beam in a demolished section of the Fitzsimons Steel Co. just across the river from where Republic Steel’s Hazelton Works stood. Fitzsimons was originally incorporated as the Finished Steel Co., Inc. in 1895. They specialized in cold drawn steel bars in round - sqaures - flat - hexagonal and special forms for machine construction. Not sure when they closed the doors but by 1981 the mill was occupied by Phoenix Electric Co. #therustjungle #youngstown #steelvalley #steelmill #industialarcheology #fossil (at Industrial Mill Maintenance, Inc.) https://www.instagram.com/therustjungle/p/BwzhhkNBjsp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=jvjxyh7u7vkv

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SHARED: The 10,000th torpedo built at Westinghouse Electric’s Sharon Works during WWII. Rumor has it they tested the torpedos in Pymatuming Lake. This would have been taken in the long domed building along Sharpsville Ave in Sharon. The guy that sent this said the roof was 3ft thick concrete and domed to be bomb resistant. The people in the photo are all men, but it’s likely that women built most of these torpedos. I’ve seen many photos of women at work there during the war. Thanks to Tim Y. for sending this in, never seen this photo before. #therustjungle #steelvalley #sharonpa #westinghouse #westinghouse #wwii #rosietheriveter (at Our Gang's Lounge) https://www.instagram.com/therustjungle/p/BwrjY0ZBnrr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1p8qy6icaqymj

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PRESERVED: Stopped at my buddy Mike’s from Steel Valley Artifacts over the weekend. He bought most of Perc Kelty’s personal collection of photos at his estate auction. Mr Kelty was the chief corporate photographer for the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company for many years. I was lucky enough to purchase 3 incredible prints off him, some of which hung on the walls in Perc’s house. While I was there I went through a stack of b&w prints Perc took at WCI Steel during the caster expansion. Man, these portraits are it. The men and women that made that mill profitable. Tag em if you know em! How bout flying parts up to the blast furnace with a chopper??? I could tell he didn’t want to come off of them, which I completely understand. I did get him to agree to do some kind of exhibition with them though. Really great stuff. #therustjungle #youngstownsheetandtube #wcisteel #republicsteel #perckelty #photography #preservation (at WCI Steel) https://www.instagram.com/therustjungle/p/BwmjEo5h3UW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1baobcr5fgltq