Inland Steel Company

Inland Steel Company

Inland Steel Building in Chicago
Industry	Steel Production
Predecessor	Chicago Steel Works
Founded	1893; 131 years ago (1893)
Founder	Joseph Block Philip D Block Joseph E Porter George H Jones William H Adams Elias Colbert Frank Wells John W Thomas
Defunct	1998; 26 years ago (1998)
Fate	Acquired by Ispat International
Successor	Cleveland-Cliffs (2020–present) ArcelorMittal (2006–2020) Mittal Steel Company (2004–2006) Ispat-Inland (1998–2004)
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois , United States

41°40′06″N 87°26′25″W / 41.6684°N 87.4402°W / 41.6684; -87.4402

The Inland Steel Company was an American steel company active in 1893–1998. Its history as an independent firm thus spanned much of the 20th century. It was headquartered in Chicago at the landmark Inland Steel Building.

Inland Steel was an integrated steel company that reduced iron ore to steel. It specialized in the basic open hearth steelmaking process. This produced a steel that was resistant to extreme temperature, unlike those made from the Bessemer or acid open hearth processes.^[1] Its sole steel mill was located in East Chicago, Indiana, on the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal and a large landfill protruding out into Lake Michigan. The steel mill's shoreline location enabled it to take in steelmaking commodities, such as iron ore, coal, and limestone, by lake freighter. Throughout much of its life, Inland Steel operated its own fleet of bulk carrier vessels.

Inland Steel was founded by Jewish owners because of anti-Semitism in the steel industry, and thereby provided employment to other Jewish workers.^{[citation needed]}

Firm history

Inland Steel was founded in 1893 through the purchase of a small failed Chicago Heights steel mill, Chicago Steel Works. After its closing, the machinery was bought by Ross Buckingham. He was able to acquire six acres of land and $20,000 for buildings, but was unable to raise more capital. An acquaintance of Buckingham, George H Jones, learned of this and became interested. At the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893,Jones met Joseph Block of the Block-Pollack Iron Company. Block wanted to be involved in this new business venture, but his business associates did not. Block put up the capital himself and brought in his 22-year-old son, Philip D Block. After purchasing Buckingham's land and machinery, Inland Steel Company was officially in business on October 30, 1893.^[2]

Inland Steel was immediately successful, even making a small profit in 1894. A slightly larger profit was earned in 1895. A disagreement broke out between the founders on what should be done with these profits. William H Adams and some other investors wanted a larger return on their investment, while others wanted to reinvest profits back into the company. Reinvestment would allow them to replace the old machinery that was in constant need of repair. It was decided that they would reinvest the profits, causing Adams to leave the company. He sold his shares to L.E. Block, oldest son of Joseph.^[3]The Block family led Inland Steel's recovery and, in 1901, Inland Steel pledged to raise more than $1 million to build an open-hearth mill in East Chicago. This expansion caused the firm to grow more than tenfold in size, from 250 workers in 1897 to 2,600 in 1910.^[4]

Inland Steel continued to face heavy competition from U.S. Steel, the Pittsburgh-based giant that at that time possessed a dominant share of the U.S. steel market. World wars increased steel demand and pushed Inland Steel forward. In 1917 (World War I), Inland Steel's production broke the 1.0-million ton (0.9m tonne) mark for the first time; and in 1930 the firm completed a new office headquarters in East Chicago, which survives. By World War II the Chicago-area steelmaker had 14,000 employees and was producing 3.4 million tons (3.0m tonnes) per year.^[4]

Starting in the 1950s, Inland Steel specialized in cold-rolled sheet and strip steel for motor vehicles. In 1956–1957, the successful firm constructed a new corporate headquarters, the Inland Steel Building, in downtown Chicago. Employment at the Indiana Harbor mill rose toward its peak of 25,000 in 1969.^[4]

The decline in the U.S. steel industry, starting in 1970, affected Inland Steel. Foreign steel companies were increasing their presence in the world steel market. During the late 1970s Inland Steel formed several joint ventures with Nippon Steel to create I/N Tek and I/N Kote, but profitability continued to be difficult to attain. After a series of internal reforms, Inland rapidly became so profitable in 1997 that, uniquely amongst U.S. integrated steel mills, they became desirable for acquisition. Ispat International acquired Inland Steel in 1998 eventually becoming ArcelorMittal.^[4] As of 2020, the assets of Inland Steel are now part of Cleveland-Cliffs.

Facilities

This list is not yet very complete.

August 1902, plant at Indiana Harbor has been put into operation. Headquarters were in the Marquette Building in Chicago.^[5]

March 1903, shareholders vote to increase stock from $2,000,000 to $2,500,000. G.H. Jones is president.^[6]

August 1906, a new 50 acre tract with 4000 feet water frontage was acquired next to the existing plant. Also acquired was the Laura mine on the Mesaba range from Alexis W. Thompson, former president of Republic Iron & Steel. The 5th open hearth furnace had just been completed and the daily capacity of open hearth steel was 500 tons. With capital stock increased from $2,500,000 to $5,000,000 further additions to be made are 2 modern blast furnaces and a 6th open hearth furnace (50 tons).^[7]

The "Madeline" blast furnace with a rated capacity of 350 tons/day was blown in on August 31, 1907.^[8] The Iron Age 3-page article (January 10, 1908): ^[9]

April 1912, Madeline No. 2, 366 feet north of and slightly larger than No. 1, +5 stoves makes 9 stoves in one row between the 2 furnaces. 400 tons/day given as the maximum capacity of No. 1. 6-page article.^[10] 3 pages in Iron Age.^[11]

January 16, 1917, 44 Koppers Coke ovens commenced production, total at that point: 130 Koppers ovens, a Koppers by-product and benzol recovery plant.^[12][13]

April 24, 1917, blast furnace No. 3 with rated capacity of 500-600 tons/day was blown in.^[14]

On January 3, 1939, Madeline No. 5, new largest among Inland's furnaces was blown in with 1000 tons/day for a new total of 4000 tons/day. Built by Arthur G. McKee & Co, who had also built No. 1 in 1907.^[15]

todo: 1932 50,000tons/month 76-inch strip mill, 1933 tin mill, 1938 2.5 minutes per mile 44-inch strip mill, 59 coke ovens, 5 open hearth (+18%).^[16]

Inland Fleet

In 1911, the Inland Steamship Company was formed, with Hutchinson & Company of Cleveland serving as purchasing agent and manager of marine operations. Two steamships were purchased from the Acme Transit Company.^[17] The Arthur H. Hawgood, at 569 feet, was renamed Joseph Block.^[18] During her years of service, the Joseph Block was involved in numerous incidents. In 1913, she needed to be placed in the drydock for repairs after striking a pier at the Canadian lock in Sault Ste. Marie. Two months later, she ran aground and was struck by steamer Calcite of the Bradley fleet.^[19] In May of 1916, the crew of the Joseph Block rescued one of two survivors from the shipwreck of the S. R. Kirby.^[20] In 1917, she received damage after hitting an ice pack in Lake Superior. A 1919 November gale led to another trip to the shipyard.^[21] The Joseph Block grounded at the Death's Door Passage near Green Bay in 1968. Deciding against repairing the extensive damages, the company sold her to Kinsman Marine Transport. She was repaired and entered their service as the George Steinbrenner (2),

The second boat purchased from Hawsgood was the W. R. Woodford, which was a little shorter at 552 feet. She was renamed N. F. Leopold.^[18] Like the Joseph Block, the N. F. Leopold was involved in several mishaps. In 1915, she grounded near Port Calcite. Two years later, an ice pack caused damage to her hull. In a 1924 collision with the Charles L. Hutchinson, both ships received minor damage, Two separate groundings in 1928 necessitated the replacement of multiple hull plates and a propeller blade. The pilothouse and forward cabins required extensive repairs after Lake Michigan battered them during a 1936 November storm.^[22] In 1943, the N. F. Leopold was renamed E. J. Block. She was sent to the shipyard in 1946 for extensive work and modernization. She was the first Lake freighter to have her steam engines converted to diesel. ^[23] She also became the first to have radar installed as standard equipment.^[24]

The first new ship built for Inland Steamship Company was steamer L. E. Block. Built in 1927 at the American Ship Building Company in Lorain, Ohio, her 621 feet in length made her one of the largest on the lakes. The L. E. Block set, then later broke, the record for carrying iron ore four times between 1936 and 1939.^[25] Throughout her career she had three incidents, two groundings and a small collision, that required minor repairs. The first grounding was in 1933 near the ore dock in Escanaba, Michigan.^[26] The second grounding occurred 40 years later in the St. Marys River. In 1979, she collided with tug George N. Carleton in Thunder Bay. Both escaped relatively unharmed, without the need for any major repairs.^[27] L.E. Block was laid up in 1981. In 1986, she was purchased by Basic Marine, Inc. The following year, she was towed to Lake Calumet in South Chicago to be used for cement storage. She sank from being overloaded. In 1988, L. E. Block was towed back to Escanaba. She remained there until she was towed to the Port Colborne scrap yard in 2006.^[28]

Steamship Philip D. Block, also built at the American Ship Building Company of Lorain, entered service in 1925. First owned by the Pioneer Steamship Company, she was acquired by Inland in 1936.^[29] Built at the length of 600 feet, 72 more were added to her midsection in 1950. Additional work modernized her navigational equipment, engines, and accommodations. In 1955, she was struck by the departing G. A. Tomlinson while docked in Indiana Harbor. G. A. Tomlinson suffered damages to her hull, while Philip D. Block only needed cosmetic repair.^[30] She remained in service until she was laid up in 1981. In 1985, she was sold to the scrap yard in Port Colborne. The navigational equipment was removed, and the Philip D. Block was sold to be scrapped in Brazil in 1986. Along with the W. W. Holloway (formerly the SS Henry A. Hawgood), she was taken under tow by the Jantar. After a journey of about six weeks, they arrived in Recife.^[31]

In 1946, Inland purchased the motor vessel Steel Chemist from U.S. Steel, which they renamed The Inland. With two cranes mounted on the deck a length of 258 feet, she was capable of delivering steel products to most ports along the Great Lakes. The Inland only served in the fleet for two years, which were without incident. She was sold to Transit Tankers & Terminals, or Quebec, where she was converted to a liquid bulk carrier and rechristened as Transinland. During an extended period of being laid-up, vandals caused serious damage to the ship's internal structure. She was scrapped in 1980.^[32]

The first U.S. ship built on the Great Lakes after World War II was the SS Wilfred Sykes.^[33] Named after the president of the company at that time, the 678 foot long vessel entered service in 1950.^[34] She was designed to operate with greater speed and carrying capacity, and was considered the prototype for all future lakeboats.^[35] In her two years as the largest shop on the lakes, Wilfred Sykes set five records for hauling the most tonnage of iron ore.^[36] She had incidents of grounding in 1973, 1998, and 2002. In 1997, she hit a seawall near Grand Haven, Michigan. Except for the 1973 grounding that required a trip to drydock for repairs, Wilfred Sykes escaped these incidents without much damage. A boiler explosion in 1984 caused massive damage to the mechanical systems.^[37] In 1953, Wilfred Sykes responded to the distress call of the SS Henry Steinbrenner. First mate Arthur Ritter and nine other crew entered frigid Lake Superior in one of the ship's lifeboats to look for survivors. They rescued two men. When the crew arrived at Indiana Harbor, they were greeted by the ship's namesake and Philip D. Block, Jr. Block praised their actions and presented each crew member with a U.S. savings bond.^[38] The Lake Carriers Association later presented them with a citation of bravery on a bronze plaque.^[39] In 1971, the crew rescued a man whose sailboat had gone adrift on Lake Michigan.^[40] After the 1998 sale of Inland Steel, Wilfred Sykes came under ownership of the Indiana Harbor Steamship Company and the management of Central Marine Logistics.^[41] As of 2024, Lori Reinhart holds the position of captain of the Wilfred Sykes. She is the first and only American woman to serve as captain on a Lake freighter.^[42]

See also

• The Metal Giant, Periscope Film #96264

Further reading

• Moise Dreyfus Obituary – http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1937/05/13/page/18/article/moise-dreyfus-estate-valued-at-11-3-millions
• Book, 50 Years of Inland Steel, 1943
• Booklet, “The Story of Inland Steel”, 1964
• Booklets, “Inland Steel at 100: Beginning a Second Century of Progress”, 1993.
• Perry, W.A., Booklet, “History of Inland Steel Co. to 1971", b
• Perry, W. A., Booklet, “A History of Inland Steel Company and the Indiana Harbor Works” (ca. 1980)
• Perry, W.A (1979) A History of Inland Steel Company And The Indiana Harbor Works (booklet)
• Perry, William A. & Saran, Sam H. Booklet, A History of Inland Steel Company and the Indiana Harbor Works (1992).
• Perry, William A. & Saran, Sam H. Booklet, A History of Inland Steel Company and the Indiana Harbor Works(1993).
• Wilder, John Watson Book, Inland Steel, 1893–1943.^[43]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inland Steel Company.

• Artist's Rendering, Inland Steel Company, Chicago Heights, Illinois plant, 1894 The Digital Collections of IUPIU University Library.
• The Michael Tenenbaum papers at Hagley Museum and Library consist of a series of his writings and speeches and a small number of Inland Steel Company publications.
• Arcelor Mittal page on Indiana Harbor – former Inland Steel plant

This page was last edited on 8 April 2024, at 22:48