00:17 - Hi, I'm Jim Ziglar,

00:18 - the executive

00:19 - director of the National Iron

00:21 - and Steel Heritage Museum.

00:22 - And welcome to our site here

00:24 - in Coatesville, Pennsylvania.

00:26 - We are on the site.

00:28 - Built originally in 1810

00:30 - of what is now the longest

00:32 - continuously operating iron and

00:34 - steel plant in North America.

00:37 - And we will show

00:39 - visitors many things here,

00:41 - including this office

00:44 - building built in 1903

00:47 - and then other

00:48 - buildings on the site.

00:50 - We have steel made

00:51 - here that went to the World

00:53 - Trade Center in New York.

00:56 - Other pieces that are

00:57 - here that are of interest

00:59 - and other buildings,

01:01 - particularly our visitor center,

01:03 - the motor house,

01:04 - and two mansions,

01:06 - one Victorian we call Terracini

01:09 - and one is a collegiate

01:11 - gothic style of architecture

01:15 - we call Greystone Mansion

01:17 - that was built in 1889.

01:19 - So all within one city

01:21 - block, we have 14 acres,

01:23 - which is a national

01:25 - historic site.

01:26 - It's a landmark

01:28 - in the department of

01:30 - Interior's designation of site.

01:32 - So all the all the buildings

01:34 - are on the registry.

01:35 - And this is a landmark.

01:37 - So welcome and hope you enjoy

01:40 - your visit here.

01:44 - This is the visitor

01:45 - center, something

01:47 - we've done recently.

01:49 - We are on the site of a 110 acre

01:53 - working farm,

01:54 - originally in 1810.

01:56 - This was the site

01:57 - of the original barn.

01:59 - So what the exhibits

02:01 - we have in here,

02:02 - of course, are from the colonial

02:04 - period up to the present.

02:06 - In this portion we

02:07 - have the colonial period.

02:10 - We also are indicating

02:11 - what you will find in this area.

02:14 - We have the minerals,

02:16 - the water power, which

02:17 - is the Brandywine Creek

02:19 - right next to us, all the

02:20 - components going into iron

02:23 - making at that point before

02:24 - steelmaking came around. And

02:26 - we have an exhibit of Rebecca's

02:29 - original mill behind me.

02:31 - Actually, it's Isaac

02:32 - Penix original mill.

02:34 - Isaac was Rebecca's father.

02:36 - We talk a lot about

02:38 - Rebecca, but it was Isaac

02:39 - Penick that originally

02:41 - founded this.

02:42 - Isaac's family had

02:43 - received the William Penn

02:45 - land grant in southern

02:46 - Chester County.

02:48 - And Isaac made his way up here.

02:50 - So we have those

02:51 - components from earlier.

02:53 - Colonial steel make iron

02:55 - making up to steelmaking

02:57 - and some of these exhibits.

02:59 - Our hands on exhibits it's

03:01 - our please touch museum,

03:03 - where people are not

03:04 - terribly embarrassed

03:05 - to try to lift these

03:06 - small pieces of steel.

03:08 - It's extremely heavy.

03:14 - Steel that came

03:15 - out of Coatesville

03:17 - became many very

03:18 - iconic buildings.

03:20 - Of course, the World

03:22 - Trade Center is the exhibit

03:24 - that we're showing here, but

03:26 - also the Seattle Space Needle,

03:28 - the Saint Louis Arch,

03:30 - the Verrazano Bridges

03:32 - for the locals, the

03:33 - veterans stadium

03:34 - that used to be in Philadelphia,

03:37 - many, many iconic buildings

03:39 - that you would

03:40 - recognize in this case.

03:42 - Plant four and five

03:44 - produced the steel,

03:46 - which became the World

03:47 - Trade Center,

03:48 - among other products.

03:50 - But we're exhibiting

03:52 - here the flat steel plate,

03:54 - which was flame cut into

03:57 - three prong trident sections,

04:00 - which became the

04:02 - top portion of the

04:03 - lobbies and the first office

04:06 - floor of World

04:07 - Trade Center towers.

04:08 - One and two

04:10 - left here in Coatesville

04:11 - and went to Pittsburgh

04:13 - and was boxed into columns.

04:16 - And then from Pittsburgh went

04:19 - up to Manhattan, where it became

04:22 - what we're known as towers

04:24 - and be under construction.

04:27 - One and two,

04:28 - while they were occupied

04:30 - and became known as the North

04:31 - and the South Tower,

04:34 - the day of the disaster,

04:38 - the question that we often

04:40 - get is when did the plant close?

04:42 - It hasn't closed.

04:44 - It's just not looking.

04:45 - Steel anymore.

04:46 - It actually began as

04:47 - the Brandywine Iron and

04:49 - now works under Mr. Penick

04:52 - was then

04:53 - later named many

04:55 - years later for Dr.

04:56 - Charles and his

04:57 - wife Rebecca Lukens,

04:59 - and became Lukens

05:01 - Iron and Steel Company.

05:03 - And then later the Lukens

05:04 - Steel Company, which it was up

05:06 - until 1998 when Bethlehem

05:08 - Steel purchased the plant

05:11 - along with its plant in Lukens

05:13 - is plant in Conshohocken.

05:16 - At that point it had been

05:17 - Allenwood steel in Conshohocken.

05:20 - So 98 then into the early

05:22 - 2000s, it was Bethlehem,

05:24 - Lukens plate.

05:26 - Bethlehem was purchased

05:28 - by ISG International Steel

05:30 - Group, who was purchased

05:32 - by Metal, Steel, Metal,

05:34 - Steel and Arcelor combined

05:36 - their European company.

05:38 - They are currently the world's

05:39 - largest iron and

05:41 - steel conglomerate.

05:44 - And then last year,

05:47 - Cleveland-Cliffs purchased

05:49 - the North American assets

05:50 - of ArcelorMittal.

05:52 - So it is currently

05:53 - the Cleveland-Cliffs

05:55 - Coatesville Steel Plant.

05:58 - Also here we have

05:59 - the furnace display,

06:03 - very hot,

06:05 - very loud.

06:06 - They use scraps of the

06:08 - scrap goes into the furnace

06:11 - up to about 3000 degrees or

06:14 - more white hot as depicted here

06:17 - and then port eventually

06:19 - coming out to a rolling mill.

06:21 - In this case, we have an exhibit

06:23 - of the 206 inch rolling mill.

06:25 - There are two rolling

06:27 - mills at the plant, the 140,

06:28 - which is the workhorse

06:30 - and the 206 inch rolling mill,

06:33 - which at one point was

06:35 - the world's widest plate.

06:39 - This area displays

06:40 - other types of products

06:42 - that are used from the steel

06:44 - that comes out of the plant.

06:46 - In this case, it's

06:47 - a spun head, so

06:49 - the plate is heated,

06:51 - cut in a circle,

06:53 - reheated and spun, and

06:55 - either pushed up or down

06:58 - to become a hemisphere as

07:00 - depicted in the image behind.

07:03 - And those hemispheres can then

07:05 - be welded to something either

07:07 - a tank car, oil

07:09 - tanks that you see,

07:12 - or a sonar sphere, which

07:13 - we have in our parking lot,

07:16 - which is

07:17 - to hemispheres put together.

07:20 - And also the guppy

07:22 - a submersible is two

07:23 - hemispheres put together.

07:25 - And you can see the

07:26 - sonar sphere and the guppy

07:28 - here at the site.

07:40 - One of the questions

07:41 - that we also get is

07:43 - why so many trains?

07:45 - Well, the iron went into the

07:47 - steam locomotives originally.

07:50 - Boiler plate is what Lukin

07:52 - Steel was known for making.

07:55 - So steam trains, steamed ships.

07:58 - And in this case,

08:00 - we have a display of

08:01 - about 400 different trains,

08:04 - which were gifts from

08:06 - one of Rebecca lukens.

08:07 - His descendants

08:09 - call Houston the third, or Skip

08:11 - Houston, who's on our board.

08:13 - His son, Scott Houston

08:15 - is our president.

08:17 - When we were converting this

08:19 - from a barn to a visitor center,

08:21 - we decided we needed to

08:22 - get these trains out of storage.

08:25 - And on display, we have

08:27 - a variety of gauges here.

08:29 - They've all been

08:31 - set up without track.

08:32 - And if you've ever put

08:33 - a railroad display up,

08:35 - you know that that's an

08:37 - engineering marvel in itself.

08:39 - We're fortunate that one of our

08:41 - board members, Al-G Antonio,

08:43 - who started out at

08:44 - Baldwin Locomotive

08:46 - and is on the

08:47 - board of the Friends

08:49 - of the Pennsylvania

08:51 - Railroad in Strasburg,

08:54 - converted

08:54 - this type of a

08:56 - display without track.

08:58 - And also it's interchangeable.

09:00 - So the gauge can

09:01 - go in the middle.

09:02 - These risers can come out.

09:04 - These are the shelves

09:05 - they can pull out.

09:06 - You can put the

09:07 - larger trains here.

09:08 - It's already pre grooved

09:10 - so it can go wherever

09:11 - you want it to go.

09:13 - So lots of trains, but

09:15 - the original function

09:17 - and even the current function

09:19 - from the steam locomotives,

09:20 - currently the heavy steel

09:22 - goes into the undercarriage

09:24 - or the truck of the

09:27 - locomotives and cars.

09:30 - In this area we

09:32 - interpret ships the steel,

09:35 - the iron and steel that

09:36 - came out of Coatesville

09:38 - went into a variety of

09:40 - ships, steam ships, yachts,

09:44 - naval ships.

09:46 - We read recently

09:47 - when ArcelorMittal

09:49 - had their newsletter, it

09:51 - stated that 90% of the U.S.

09:53 - fleet of aircraft carriers

09:55 - Battleship and destroyers

09:58 - had ArcelorMittal Steel in it.

10:00 - So a lot of that play

10:01 - came out of Coatesville.

10:03 - Coatesville is known

10:04 - for its armor plate,

10:07 - and then liberty ships

10:08 - were cargo ships converted

10:11 - into bringing the troops

10:12 - home from World War two,

10:14 - one of which was actually

10:15 - named the Rebecca Lukens.

10:17 - So that's what this

10:19 - corner displays.

10:20 - Liberty ships were built at a

10:22 - pace of about one per week.

10:25 - And if you can get a

10:26 - copy of a time lapse video

10:28 - showing that construction,

10:31 - it's absolutely phenomenal.

10:36 - What I'm trying not

10:37 - to stand in front of

10:38 - are some interesting

10:40 - other vehicles

10:41 - made with the armor plate

10:43 - that comes out of Coatesville.

10:45 - Of course, in World War two,

10:47 - you have the Sherman tanks,

10:49 - A-1, a M-1 Abrams

10:50 - tanks in Desert Storm.

10:53 - Also, Humvees and MRAPs

10:56 - are using armor plate

10:59 - basically out of Coatesville.

11:01 - And Coatesville

11:03 - has retro to the ships.

11:06 - The current contract to replace

11:09 - using Coatesville steel,

11:11 - the current naval fleet

11:12 - of submarines for

11:14 - the next ten years.

11:18 - Also here we have

11:19 - a display showing

11:20 - racing yards, particularly the

11:22 - America's Cup racing yachts.

11:24 - And originally back

11:26 - in the late 1800s,

11:28 - they used iron

11:29 - reinforced decks and hulls

11:32 - because the speed at

11:34 - which those ships move

11:35 - and then the

11:36 - turns that they take,

11:38 - the wood would splinter

11:40 - without that reinforcement.

11:41 - So that helped them.

11:42 - Of course, today,

11:43 - those those racing yachts

11:45 - or fiberglass catamarans.

11:48 - Nevertheless, it's

11:48 - an interesting race.

11:49 - The America's Cup Lukin

11:51 - Steel was in several of the

11:53 - winners of the America's Cup.

11:57 - Also, we do have a

11:59 - lecture series that

12:00 - we show online,

12:02 - and we've learned

12:03 - a lot through Zoom.

12:05 - And a recent series was Women's

12:07 - History Month with the female

12:10 - all female crew of an

12:12 - America's Cup team

12:16 - in the mid-nineties.

12:18 - Dawn Riley is the skipper,

12:20 - and without leaving Long Island,

12:23 - she gave a presentation and

12:25 - her audience in New England

12:27 - mixed with our audience

12:29 - here via Zoom interacting.

12:31 - And it was just a

12:32 - wonderful lecture.

12:33 - So you might want to take a look

12:34 - at our website and all

12:36 - the components there.

12:38 - This is the motor house

12:40 - for the 120 inch rolling mill.

12:43 - These buildings

12:45 - were built in 1942,

12:46 - went online in 1943.

12:49 - They were built by the U.S.

12:51 - Navy.

12:53 - The U.S.

12:53 - Navy used Lukens steel workers

12:57 - to manufacture plate

12:59 - armor plate for ships.

13:02 - So this was a

13:03 - shipbuilding operation.

13:04 - And here until

13:05 - the end of the war,

13:07 - when the Navy sold the

13:08 - buildings to Luke and Steel.

13:11 - Behind us here,

13:13 - we have the guppy.

13:15 - The guppy is a shallow

13:17 - dove submersible

13:19 - made with Lukens Steel by

13:21 - sun ship company for Sun Oil.

13:24 - Sun Oil would use them

13:26 - for rigs inspecting oil rigs.

13:29 - This particular

13:31 - ship was on display

13:33 - at the Independence

13:34 - Seaport Museum until recently.

13:37 - The smile on the front was

13:40 - put on by the Museum

13:42 - Seaport Museum

13:43 - and of course it got a lot of

13:45 - attraction coming down

13:46 - several six here to Coatesville.

13:49 - But actually in our

13:50 - records, we have found that

13:52 - when the Sun Ship Company

13:55 - transferred these to Sun Oil,

13:57 - they would put great big ruby

13:59 - red lips on the front of our

14:01 - with mascara around the

14:02 - portal so that everybody had

14:05 - a lot of fun with the guppy.

14:06 - Also in this area, we

14:08 - have a test lab where small

14:10 - batches of steel were made

14:12 - in furnaces that we have.

14:15 - We have metallurgists that are

14:17 - just itching to have demos here.

14:19 - We have a rolling mill,

14:20 - so they would make

14:21 - a small piece of plate

14:22 - and then tested in

14:23 - this testing equipment

14:25 - to see the tensile strength.

14:27 - They would twist it and

14:28 - turn it and pull it and bend it.

14:30 - When the steel

14:32 - passed the test needed,

14:35 - then they would make a big

14:36 - batch and put it in the furnace

14:38 - and then make a

14:39 - big plate of steel.

14:41 - Also in this area we have

14:43 - fire equipment, Lukens Steel.

14:46 - Now Cleveland-Cliffs

14:47 - has its own fire equipment.

14:50 - When accidents happen

14:51 - on the plant, they need

14:52 - immediate responses.

14:54 - So they go and do that.

14:56 - And then Coatesville

14:57 - comes as a backup.

14:59 - We have two engines

15:01 - and an ambulance

15:03 - which are in full working order

15:05 - and we put them in parades,

15:07 - particularly the ambulance.

15:09 - She's in good shape.

15:11 - She's actually been

15:12 - in some fundraisers

15:14 - for other groups

15:16 - because she looks like

15:18 - she was in Ghostbusters.

15:20 - So that's the equipment

15:22 - that we have in this

15:23 - section of the motor house.

15:26 - So again, the motor house

15:28 - is known for its motors.

15:30 - So you see that in an

15:32 - early rendering of what

15:33 - the motor house looked

15:34 - like back in the forties

15:36 - when it was in

15:37 - operation very loud.

15:39 - These motors provided the power

15:43 - to run the five ton

15:45 - crane up above us,

15:47 - and there's a 100 ton crane

15:49 - on the other side of that wall.

15:51 - Also on the other

15:53 - side of that wall is the

15:56 - the bed for the

15:58 - 120 inch rolling mill.

16:00 - So there was a 120

16:01 - there at one point, which is

16:03 - why this building was built.

16:06 - But Lukens Steel purchased a

16:08 - steel company in Conshohocken,

16:10 - which was Alan Wood Steel.

16:12 - Alan Wood also had a 120.

16:15 - So that purchase went

16:17 - through in the late seventies,

16:19 - early eighties.

16:20 - So this this building became

16:23 - dormant in 1983, almost 40 years

16:26 - to the day of when it went

16:28 - up during World War Two.

16:32 - There are several things that

16:34 - we interpret from this location.

16:37 - The main source of this

16:39 - story is the sonar sphere here

16:42 - next to me, named for just that

16:45 - sonar sound sphere, its shape.

16:48 - So it is two spun

16:50 - heads, pieces of steel

16:53 - which have been pushed

16:54 - or poured into a hemisphere.

16:56 - In this case, the spun

16:58 - head is welded together

17:00 - and each of those holes contains

17:02 - a hydrophone, hydro

17:04 - water, phone sound.

17:06 - So the sound, the little

17:08 - listening device is now 2700

17:10 - hydrophones will

17:12 - go into those holes.

17:14 - And that is a listening device

17:16 - that goes into the front of

17:17 - a submarine.

17:19 - This is about 30 tons of steel.

17:22 - It fits into the nose

17:23 - of the submarine.

17:24 - And that submarine is so

17:26 - big, it would extend back

17:28 - to business Route 30

17:30 - behind us, perhaps beyond.

17:33 - So this we

17:34 - found decommissioned in Maine,

17:39 - brought it shipped it back here.

17:41 - And it was through the good

17:43 - contributions of our friends,

17:48 - the McNeil's Bob

17:50 - and Jennifer McNeil made

17:51 - this possible to come back.

17:53 - The driver of the

17:54 - truck that brought it

17:56 - back was a sailor,

17:58 - so he knew exactly

17:59 - what his payload was

18:01 - the whole way down from Maine.

18:02 - He was extremely

18:03 - excited when he got here.

18:06 - Also, we interpret

18:07 - what's going on.

18:09 - Some of the sounds of steel

18:10 - making the sights

18:11 - and sounds of steel

18:12 - making just across

18:13 - the Brandywine Creek,

18:15 - which is the

18:16 - reason the iron plant

18:17 - was originally established here.

18:19 - This is the west

18:19 - branch of the Brandywine,

18:21 - just beyond these railroad cars.

18:23 - Those buildings are where

18:25 - the steel plates are cooling.

18:28 - In the old days when

18:29 - I was a kid, there were

18:31 - open hearth furnaces there

18:32 - with the tall smokestacks,

18:34 - billowing smoke out over town.

18:36 - That's west. That's east.

18:38 - So the prevailing westerlies

18:40 - carried that smoke over town.

18:42 - That just meant

18:43 - they're making steel.

18:44 - We got brooms and we

18:45 - brushed off the sidewalk.

18:47 - Weren't hurt by the steel.

18:49 - That was before OSHA, obviously.

18:51 - Electric furnaces

18:52 - down south of us.

18:54 - Less than a mile.

18:59 - This is a piece of steel that

19:03 - was made here in Coatesville

19:05 - and made its way to Pittsburgh

19:07 - on up to New York to

19:08 - become the just the top portion,

19:11 - the fork shape or the prong

19:13 - or where the windows were.

19:16 - And World Trade

19:17 - Center Tower One,

19:19 - later known as the North Tower.

19:22 - So the rest of the steel,

19:24 - there's the welding joint.

19:26 - There were two more

19:28 - sections of the column

19:30 - down to the ground level,

19:32 - and then at least three

19:34 - more sections down to bedrock.

19:36 - If you've been to the

19:37 - Memorial Museum in New York,

19:40 - they start at Ground Zero

19:41 - and take you down the bedrock.

19:43 - And you can see the outlines of

19:45 - where these steel columns were.

19:47 - So the Coatesville

19:48 - steel was just the lobbies

19:50 - and the first office floor

19:52 - of Towers one and two,

19:54 - where the north

19:55 - and the south tower.

19:56 - It's about 20 tons of steel.

19:59 - We talk about World

20:00 - Trade Center here.

20:02 - We do have a commemoration

20:04 - at September 11th,

20:05 - but the rest of the year, we do

20:07 - talk about the iconic buildings

20:10 - that this represents

20:12 - and the steel that

20:13 - came out of Coatesville

20:14 - to help contribute

20:15 - to those buildings.

20:18 - ArcelorMittal Steel Company

20:20 - and the United Steelworkers

20:23 - Chapter 1165

20:24 - erected the memorial.

20:26 - Behind me on it are the names

20:28 - of those who lost their lives

20:31 - while making steel

20:32 - here in Coatesville.

20:34 - There are different

20:35 - alphabetical order.

20:36 - There is no order dates,

20:38 - no chronological dates.

20:41 - There are 83 names on there and

20:45 - they went to work one

20:47 - day and didn't come home.

20:49 - Very similar to the

20:51 - folks in New York

20:53 - and in Somerset

20:54 - and at the Pentagon.

20:57 - So that story is told here

21:00 - for steelworkers, not

21:02 - for September 11th.

21:04 - So it's a reminder of

21:06 - the variety of accidents

21:08 - that people succumbed to

21:10 - injuries from over at the plant.

21:14 - It's great, great job, but very

21:17 - dangerous and remarkable.

21:20 - The types of products

21:22 - that they put their

21:23 - lives on the line for.

21:25 - For us.

21:28 - We are in the building

21:30 - that housed the 120

21:32 - inch rolling mill that

21:35 - operated from 1943 to 1983.

21:39 - The components also here include

21:42 - the 27 pieces of the

21:44 - World Trade Center steel,

21:46 - one of which is next

21:48 - to us in the parking lot.

21:51 - So you have cranes

21:52 - in here behind me.

21:53 - Down at the end of the building

21:55 - was the rolling mill itself.

21:58 - A large 100 ton crane

21:59 - would be behind me,

22:02 - which operated within

22:04 - the plant locomotives.

22:06 - Their rail lines

22:07 - here to our west.

22:10 - Locomotives loaded

22:11 - here and rolled out.

22:13 - So quite a bit of

22:15 - activity was in here,

22:17 - right now it's storage

22:19 - until we re erect the north

22:22 - east corner of the north

22:24 - tower, which is the steel

22:26 - that's here.

22:30 - We're in the home

22:31 - of one of Rebecca and

22:32 - Charles Lukens, his grandson.

22:35 - This is a Houston

22:36 - this home was built

22:38 - in 1889, the year before

22:40 - the company went public.

22:43 - So they wanted to show future

22:45 - stockholders that Lukens deal

22:47 - was here to stay.

22:48 - So it has a very

22:49 - rustic type of feel to it,

22:53 - different from the house

22:54 - where this gentleman grew

22:55 - up, across the Street

22:57 - Terrace, which is beautiful

23:00 - Victorian mansion.

23:01 - This is collegiate gothic

23:03 - style of architecture.

23:06 - It was built by the are designed

23:09 - by Copan Stewarts and

23:10 - architects out of Philadelphia,

23:13 - who also did buildings at Bryn

23:15 - Mawr and have her colleges,

23:18 - University of

23:18 - Pennsylvania and Princeton

23:20 - and many buildings at Washington

23:22 - University in Saint Louis.

23:25 - It's because of

23:25 - this architecture

23:26 - that we probably

23:28 - are as a historic

23:29 - district and national

23:31 - historic landmark.

23:33 - So 1889, beautiful architecture,

23:35 - beautiful fireplaces

23:37 - and building cabinets,

23:40 - just stunning to say.

23:43 - Terrace Scene is

23:45 - an 1849 mansion.

23:47 - It is a country gothic

23:49 - style of architecture.

23:52 - It was the home of

23:53 - Rebecca and Charles

23:55 - Lukens, his daughter

23:57 - Isabella, and her husband, Dr.

23:59 - Charles Houston, both Dr.

24:02 - Lukens, her and Dr.

24:04 - Houston were

24:05 - Philadelphia physicians

24:06 - who left their practices

24:08 - and came to Coatesville.

24:10 - And Dr.

24:11 - Lukens in this case, to

24:12 - make iron for his father

24:14 - in law, Isaac Penick, and

24:16 - for Doctor Houston's case

24:19 - to make iron later steel

24:23 - for his mother in law, Rebecca,

24:25 - as she neared retirement.

24:27 - Stunning, stunning verandas

24:29 - and porches and grounds

24:32 - at Terracini.

24:37 - Well, thank you for

24:38 - visiting us at the National Iron

24:39 - and Steel Heritage Museum.

24:42 - We are in Coatesville,

24:43 - Pennsylvania, at 50 South First

24:46 - Avenue.

24:47 - Please visit our website

24:49 - at Steel Museum dot org.

24:51 - Lots of exhibits and ways to

24:53 - get here and our phone number

24:55 - is 610 3849282.

25:00 - Thank you.