Lukens Steel Company
A Brief History of Lukens Steel, 1810 – 1925
An abbreviated company history from when Rebecca Lukens brought the "Brandywine Iron Works" to a sound financial footing (1810-1847) through its evolution into one of the largest rolling mills built in the United States, Lukens Steel (still operated by Arcelor-Mittal today).
World Trade Center Trees Return
to Coatesville, April 14, 2010
Coatesville is a city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It grew up around the Lukens Steel Company. Lukens was bought by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in 1997. In 2002, Bethlehem was bought by the then Ohio-based International Steel Group (ISG). Later, Mittal Steel bought ISG and then merged with Arcelor Steel to form the ArcelorMittal company.
In 1969 Lukens Steel forged steel beams for the World Trade Center in New York City.[10] Some of these beams, known as "trees", remained standing after the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks. Ten of the "trees" that remained were transported back to Coatesville on April 15, 2010, and are slated to be a part of the proposed National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum.[10]
Mile-long procession: Twenty-eight flat-bed lorries drove to Coatesville, Pennsylvania, carrying 500 tons of structural supports salvaged from the fallen World Trade Center in New York
Giant steel remnants of the fallen World Trade Center towers were returned to the Pennsylvania city where they were made more than four decades ago.
In a solemn homecoming that was never meant to be, a mile-long procession of 28 flat-bed lorries arrived in Coatesville carrying 500 tons of structural supports, referred to as 'steel trees' because of their upward branching shape.
Fire engines flashed their lights in welcome and hundreds of residents lining the pavements waved flags and reached up to touch the wreckage. Some posed for pictures or saluted while others wept
Notable people
Walt Downing, NFL center for the San Francisco 49ers, 1978-1983
Calvin Grove, professional boxer who won the IBF Featherweight title in 1988
Richard Hamilton, NBA All-Star guard for the Chicago Bulls
Ralph Hudson, last person to be put to death by the state of New Jersey
Ray Keech, American Racing Pioneer in the 1920s, Won the 1929 Indianapolis 500
Rebecca Lukens, owner of Lukens Steel Company, "America's first female CEO of an industrial company."
Fred Mascherino, musician and vocalist, Taking Back Sunday, The Color Fred, The Terrible Things
Rod Perry, American actor best known for his role as Sgt. David "Deacon" Kay in the 1970s TV series S.W.A.T..
Johnny Weir, American Figure Skater
John L. Withrow, minister, author
Brief history of Coatesville
Beginnings
The first known settlement in the area which would be known as Coatesville was a Native American village built along the West Branch of the Brandywine River. This settlement was a post for fur trading with the earliest American settlers. The Brandywine River features prominently in the history of Coatesville.
William Fleming, originally from Scotland, is one of the earliest landowners on record. He built a log cabin in the area of Harmony Street and 5th Avenue and owned about 207 acres (0.84 km2) of land bordering the Brandywine River.[1]
Moses Coates, a prosperous farmer and the namesake of Coatesville, bought the Fleming house from Fleming's son in 1787. Moses Coates' son-in-law, Jesse Kersey, came up with a plan to develop the area by selling frontage on the recently completed Lancaster Turnpike which crossed through their land. The Lancaster Turnpike was the first toll road in the U.S., authorized in 1792 and completed in 1795. There was a tollgate located within the present day Coatesville city limits.[2] Coatesville became a popular stopping point since it was located roughly halfway between Philadelphia and Lancaster on the Turnpike.
Another of the earliest settlers in the Coatesville region was Pierre Bizallion. He was a French fur trader who settled in the area in the early 18th century, and was said to have been an interpreter between William Penn and the Native Americans.[3] The Veterans Administration Hospital now sits on a piece of the roughly 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land that was once owned by Bizallion.
19th century
Before Coatesville became the only city in Chester County, it was a town called Bridge-Town, because of the two bridges that were used to cross the Brandywine River. A village named "Midway", named after its station owned by the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad midway between Philadelphia and Lancaster, was also formed in 1834[2] on the western bank of the Brandywine. The village of Midway and the village of Bridge-Town merged to become the borough of Coatesville in 1867. Coatesville citizens voted to become a city in 1915.
Coatesville was able to capitalize on the natural energy available due to the Brandywine River running through the area. Jesse Kersey, Moses Coates' son-in-law, partnered with the ironmaster Isaac Pennock and purchased over 110 acres (0.45 km2) of Moses Coates' farm along both sides of the Brandywine River in 1810. The resulting company was named the Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory, the forerunner of Lukens Steel. Charles Lukens, MD, married Isaac Pennock's daughter Rebecca in 1813. Following her husband's death in 1825, Rebecca Lukens took over the operations of the mill, purchasing it from her mother and seeing it through turmoil and market panic into a prosperous mill. Rebecca was one of the first female operators of a major corporation in America.[4]
20th century
As Lukens Steel grew so did Coatesville, eventually becoming known as the "Pittsburgh of the East."[1] By the beginning of the 20th century the population had grown to 6,000. Along with the growth, the school system expanded as well as the religious community. In 1932 Coatesville was the home to 22 churches and Chester County's only synagogue, Beth Israel Congregation. Lukens Steel was the largest employer in Chester County in the 1960s, with over 10,000 workers. After World War II the steel industry began a long decline and Lukens Steel was eventually sold again and again, forcing workplace reductions to 5,000 and eventually to 2,000.[1]
Coatesville recently began an ambitious redevelopment project which include tearing down abandoned and dangerous public housing, building new single family and townhouse developments, a regional recreation center, and most recently, mixed use projects that would include retail, office, and condominium housing, as well as the renovation of the local Amtrak station which has fallen into disrepair. A new Marriott hotel built along Route 82 on the outskirts of Coatesville opened May 2012.[5]
The redevelopment plans have not been without controversy,[6] including a five-year eminent domain dispute with a local landowner in neighboring Valley Township. It has been resolved without the need to seize the property, but it caused the ouster of four incumbent city councilpersons in the November 2005 general elections. The four new councilpersons, two of whom are ordained Pentecostal and Methodist ministers, caused further controversy with the firing of the city solicitor, the resignation of the city manager (who negotiated with the Valley Township landowner), and the departure of the assistant manager, police chief, and city treasurer.
A series of arsons took place in the city from 2007 to early 2009.[7] A December 2008 fire at a Strode Avenue home resulted in the death of 83-year-old World War II Holocaust survivor Irene Kempest. Another fire the following month on the 300 block of Fleetwood Street burned 17 row houses, causing $2 million in damage and leaving dozens homeless. By March 2009, police had arrested six suspects in the fires. On June 8, 2010 one man, pleading no-contest due to mental illness, was sentenced to a 60-year prison sentence for five of the fires, one of which resulted in Kempest's death.[8] Another, who plead guilty to the Fleetwood Street fire and eight others, received a sentence of 12.5 to 25 years with order to pay $2.5 million in restitution.[9] Twenty of the nearly 70 fires over the two-year span remain unsolved.[8]