Over the past ten years since I started this website, many of the industrial sites that initially inspired me have undergone significant changes. From the once-active AK Steel Ashland Works to various cement companies, these places are either being demolished or restored at an astonishing pace.
Over the past ten years since I started this website, many of the industrial sites that initially inspired me have undergone significant changes. From the once-active AK Steel Ashland Works to various cement companies, these places are either being demolished or restored at an astonishing pace.
Unfortunately, some of these former industrial giants, which once employed thousands of people in the region, are not being replaced with anything of value. A shopping center has replaced a coke plant near Portsmouth, Ohio, while vacant lots and junkyards have taken over an iron foundry in Ironton, Ohio. The site of the world’s largest hot strip mill in Ashland, Kentucky, is now a polluted, deserted area.
It’s disheartening to see these changes, and I hope that one day, we can regain our status as an industrial powerhouse.
AK Steel Ashland Works
I grew up in the shadow of AK Steel Ashland Works (formerly Armco Steel). My father still works at this once-massive mill located along the Ohio River in Ashland, Kentucky. The 700-acre facility used to house a coke plant, a blast furnace, a basic oxygen furnace, and other production facilities. Of particular interest are the abandoned blast furnace and hot strip mill, both of which are being demolished after years of disuse.
Before the Bellefonte and Amanda furnaces, there was the Ashland Furnace – the oldest remaining pig-iron furnace in the world when it was dismantled in 1962. It was replaced by the Amanda Furnace in 1963, which had a mammoth 30.6-foot-wide hearth and was the world’s largest pig-iron blast furnace, routinely breaking records for steel output.
The Bellefonte Furnace, completed in 1942, produced 1,000 tons of steel per day and was the 96th blast furnace constructed in the Hanging Rock region since the first pig-iron furnace was built in 1818. The furnace was idled in 1996.
Ironton High School
Ironton High School, constructed in 1922, boasted impressive facilities, including a two-tiered auditorium, greenhouse, indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, cafeteria, and library.
Facing mounting maintenance issues and an aging building that required renovation, the Ironton school board requested renovations for the high school in July 2001. However, in mid-2007, the majority of Ironton voters opted for a new building instead of renovations and passed a levy for construction. The old building was vacated on May 27, and asbestos abatement began in August. Bids were opened on September 25 for selective demolition of the school, and the razing of the old high school began in November. The new school will open in February 2010.
Alpha Portland Cement Company
Cement silos adorn the former Alpha Portland Cement Company, which once produced cement for bridges, roadways, and buildings, offering high-paying jobs to residents of nearby towns.
Marquette Cement Company
I also recall visiting the Marquette Cement Company when I first got my driver’s license at age 18. Laboratories, multi-story rock crushers, scales, bag houses, rooms full of documents, and a dozen buildings remained – although all of that is now gone.
Selby Shoe Company
The Selby Shoe Company opened along South Third Street in Ironton, Ohio, in 1926. The facility was purchased in 1943 by the Wilson Athletic Goods Mfg. Co.
