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 Symbols of Industry / The Stack - Homestead PA. Posted by:  Lat34North
N 40° 24.267 W 079° 55.108
17T E 591773 N 4473210
These venting stacks for the 45-inch Mill’s soaking pits where once part of the Homestead Works' Steel Mill. Located near the intersection of Sandcastle Dr. and W Waterfront Dr. Plenty of parking. Visible on Google Earth.
Waymark Code: WMFQMW
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 11/19/2012
Views: 6
Symbols of Industry
The Stacks
The nearby towering structures are the only remnants of the 45-inch Mill -- one of Homestead Works’ new mills built during its World War II expansion to prepare steel for rolling by shaping it into slabs.
Though they are commonly called “smokestacks”, these stacks are actually venting stacks for the 45-inch Mill’s soaking pits. The soaking pits were an integral component of the mill.
Temperatures within them would reach 2250° Fahrenheit, and served to equalize the internal and external temperatures of the steel ingots before they were sent to be rolled.
Mesta Machine Company
Located to the west of the stacks, Mesta Machine Company built industrial machines used in virtually every steel mill in the nation and many others worldwide. Purchased by the Park Corporation in 1983, Masta was renamed WEMCO and continued to manufacturer machine tools and steel mill equipment for the next two decades.
Khrushchev Tours Mesta
In 1959 the Premier of the Soviet Union to Nikita Khrushchev, toured the Masta facilities, and recounted his experience saying, “I must tell you about the warm welcome given to us by the people of one of America's biggest industrial centers, the city of iron and steel workers and machine builders, the people of Pittsburgh.”
More Information:
Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area
NPS - Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area
Wikipedia - Homestead Steel Works
Wikipedia - Homestead Strike
Group that erected the marker: Unknonwn
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
In the parking lot near the Longhorn Steakhouse
Corner of Sandcastle Dr and W Waterfront Dr
West Homestead, PA USA
15120
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Visit Instructions:
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