Old 1895 viaduct and steel mill ruins Johnstown pa

Old steel mills, Founded in 1852, the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown made an important contribution to American industrialism - it is considered one of the greatest of the early modern iron and steel works. Forerunner of Bethlehem Steel Company, United States Steel Corporation, and other late 19th and 20th century steel companies, the Cambria plant became a model for the industry. In the late 1800s Johnstown attracted the best and brightest minds in the industry, notably William Kelly, George and John Fritz, Daniel J. Morrell, Robert W. Hunt, William R. Jones, and Alexander Holley. These men advanced iron and steel technology through invention and industrial design in Johnstown, work which was widely copied by other iron and steel companies. This enormous contribution signaled the end of America’s reliance on British-produced rails and allowed the expansion of the nation’s railroad network.
1876Before Cambria’s founding in 1852, only a very few small-scale blast furnaces and foundries existed in Johnstown. At that time, Johnstown and its suburbs had a population of about 5,150. But the city was blessed with abundant deposits of iron ore, coal, wood, a water supply. With the arrival of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1854, Johnstown became an ideal location for the Cambria Iron Works. After a few difficult years the company took off, and by 1858 it had become one of the nation’s largest producers of rails. As the mill grew, thousands of immigrants, many from Southern and Eastern Europe, came to Johnstown to work in the steel mills and coal mines, and many settled next to the mill in the area of Johnstown still known as Cambria City. By 1890, Johnstown’s population had increased to 30,114.
wiredrawers In the 1880s, the company added an open-hearth steelmaking facility, but was becoming less important nationally as other steelmakers in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Cleveland gained prominence. The 1889 flood did comparatively little damage to the Lower Works of the Cambria Iron Company, although the Gautier Works, located in Woodvale, was completely destroyed. In 1898, the Cambria Iron Works was reorganized and renamed the Cambria Steel Company, and built a new, modern steel mill in Franklin Borough, east of Johnstown. The Franklin mill included blast furnaces, a steel railroad car department and open hearths. The company slowly rebuilt the Gautier Works to produce wire fencing, plows and other steel products for the agriculture industry. A wire plant was also built in the Morrellville neighborhood.
The Midvale Steel & Ordnance Company of Niketown, Pennsylvania bought the Cambria Steel Company in 1916, selling it to the Bethlehem Steel Company in 1923. A major reorganization and modernization of the Johnstown facilities ensued, and parts of the Lower Works were retired altogether. Other Johnstown plants were enlarged, and company prospered - in 1973, 11,800 workers were employed. But that year, Bethlehem decided to significantly cut its Johnstown operations for a variety of reasons, including aging facilities, lack of access to transportation, and difficulty in complying with environmental regulations. Damage caused by the 1977 flood didn’t help matters, and by 1982 only 2,100 workers were left. The Johnstown plants of Bethlehem Steel Corporation were closed in 1992. (JAHA commissioned Charles Guggenheim to shoot high-definition footage inside the mills during their last few days of operation - that footage is included in “The Mystery of Steel,” a film shown at the Heritage Discovery Center’s Iron & Steel Gallery.)
In 1988, Johnstown was identified as one of two sites having the most intact structures dating from the nation’s earliest steel companies. The Cambria Ironworks was listed as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1989, and remains the only American steel mill to have received this designation.
franklin
Although the heyday of steel in Johnstown is long gone, the city holds a well-earned place in steelmaking history. It was the site of several major technological innovations that were copied throughout the nation and the world, including early use of the Bessemer process for refining steel and many new methods of heating, handling and rolling steel.
axles Today, the Johnstown Area Heritage Association interprets the story of the immigrants who came to work in the mills and the mines through the Heritage Discovery Center’s permanent exhibit, “America: Through Immigrant Eyes.” The Iron & Steel Gallery includes images of the steel industry in Pennsylvania, memorabilia from Johnstown’s steel mills, and “The Mystery of Steel,” a multiscreen film that gives an overview of Johnstown’s importance in the steel industry.
black smith caption JAHA is also working to conserve the 1864 Blacksmith Shop, the most historically significant building remaining in the Cambria Iron & Steel National Historic Landmark.
my-store-bb31b... #old #steelmills #mill

[@thepawanderer]

thanks for watching hope you like the video. all my new subscribers thank you for doing so, and please hit the notification bell. and hit all so you never miss a upload. thank you all so much.

[@Exhausted986]

Pretty awesome seeing this!! Thanks for the video!! Much appreciated.

[@thepawanderer]

Thank you for watching. I'm glad you liked it

[@brucesheehe6305]

Enjoy your great videos as a Johnstown native. Through time, the only constant is change.

[@thepawanderer]

thank you

[@garywisen9546]

Liked the video I use to live in the Johnstown area back in the 70s never knew all that was there thanks would like to see more

[@thepawanderer]

@garywisen9546 thanks for watching appreciate it

[@Packrat1415]

I love this.

[@thepawanderer]

Thank you

[@rubirosasarte8198]

Classic viaduct, too much stuff at the old building, wasted as usual, great explore, keep it up!👏

[@thepawanderer]

yep such a waste, thanks for watching

[@walkingcam1]

The coolest find, man😮

[@thepawanderer]

Yea it's a pretty cool spot

[@wanderingoutyonder]

interesting area! we love when Mother Nature takes back what is hers! Keep making memories & adventure on! ~Karen & Shannon WOY

[@hikingoutdoorfamily]

You find the best places to explore.

[@thepawanderer]

Thanks I definitely have fun

[@frankcintulajr7917]

My Grandfather worked at the Franklin Mill. I had family that lived in ParkHill. When the slag was dumped at the bottom of ParkHill, the night was lit up with a bright red color. Almost like something out of an alien movie. Great shots. I have copies of actual Bethlehem Steel Surveys of Franklin Mills, Coke Ovens in Rosedale and the Lower Mill near the train station.

[@thepawanderer]

Definitely a lot of history there was neat to explore it

[@bushman979]

Great video it's amazing how nature reclaims the land

[@thepawanderer]

I know right it was so thick in that area it was crazy.

[@jennifermiller697]

Cool find

[@thepawanderer]

Lot's of hidden treasures around

[@brentbicko1949]

Hello I'm from Johnstown and never seen this. Where is it or what area?

[@thepawanderer]

East conemaugh

[@mistergoodcitizen9914]

How many ticks you picking up?

[@thepawanderer]

none today kind of weird

[@TruckinGoat]

C&BL runs behind Gautier that runs over that old trestle to interchange with NS under the large green vehicle bridge.

[@thepawanderer]

@TruckinGoat yea it looked like it was still in use that's why I didn't cross it but neat to see

[@TruckinGoat]

@thepawanderer down in town below where you were, csx has a small yard there where they interchange. Csx runs back up the river and runs over that bridge from your Mayer Riverwalk trail, opposite direction you were facing is a small tunnel under the hill and comes out beside Eisenhower Blvd and runs back down to rockwood pa through small towns between johnstown and somerset. Sorry to keep bombarding but I didn't know if you had been around all the spots yet

[@thepawanderer]

@TruckinGoat dude I would like to find that tunnel lol I never saw that makes me want to go look tomorrow hahaha that would be neat to see

[@TruckinGoat]

@thepawanderer at the end of the trail where the mine shafts are, that bridge. You were facing across the river where it runs through Ferndale at the yellow bridge across from the other end of the trail you started from. Behind you a few hundred yards is the tunnel. I'd be careful if you go through the flower shop on the other side has been known to report people. There's a spot above the tunnel people sometimes take video of the train, it runs daily but not at a set time. Sometimes in the morning sometimes in the evening.

[@thepawanderer]

@TruckinGoat this video was east conemaugh what Trail you talking about lol I'm lost

[@adventureswithnubby]

pretty cool

[@thepawanderer]

yea it was

[@hightops77]

Most people when they come to Johnstown , when they leave they never come back unless they absolutely have to.

[@thepawanderer]

hahaha I hear that, the only reason i go there is to check out abandoned buildings or maybe hike a trail that has something i want to see along it. other than that, i have no interest in the place.

[@Helpline5815]

Except for me, I lived in Moxham in foster care years ago, and I always felt drawn to here and its history and woods and waters. We couldn't find any real estate cheap enough or that didn't fall through until we found a house up here in the suburbs of Johnstown and found everything is so much cheaper and more affordable than Washington County PA. And it's nicer and the folks are really nice.

[@thepawanderer]

It's a ok place to visit but as far as living there it's a big no for me it's gotten really run down and keeps getting worse because of the rifraf and drug infested

[@Helpline5815]

@@thepawanderer then you're looking at housing in the wrong part of town. It's not all like that. Go in either direction and you got great places to live and work and visit