Steps: 2,138,446
Miles: 899.09
On Sunday March 30, 2008, I went to Phoenixville to explore the Phoenixville Iron Trail. This trail is ...a very sharp contrast from the green, quietness of the natural setting of the Valley Forge National Historical Park's Riverside Trail which is only 4 1/2 miles downstream from here.
For many years, the Borough of Phoenixville was the home of the Phoenix Iron and Steel Company which was established in 1783. The works, created from a modified grist mill, was the site of many metalworking firsts in America, including rolling of iron nails, structural shapes and beams as well as the invention and production of the spiral wrought iron Griffen gun (a cannon used in the Civil War).
Wrought Iron Phoenix Column
The Phoenixville Works also invented and produced the hollow wrought iron Phoenix column (used in many bridges, including the Kinzua Viaduct).
I searched for pictures of the place before it was torn down. I know this not the best, but hopefully it gives you some idea of what the place was like. This is the pipe mill. This is only one of the many buildings on the site and most of them were covered in what looked like black tar paper.
Demolition of the Open Hearth Building
For many years, my father supplied the steel works with many parts used to repair their machinery. I remember numerous occasions where I rode with him or my mom, to deliver them. I have a blueprint of a part used in an overhead crane dated 1912 in my possession. I remember when the place was torn down after it closed forever in 1987.
The Site of the Works Today
I think the Phoenxville Iron Trail starts here (its not marked) and follows the French Creek down the right hand side of this (now) open field.
Rusting Gear
A stark image that explains the term "rust belt".
A flywheel slowly turns to Rust
The Phoenix has not yet risen from these ashes. I came away rather shaken by the demise and ruin of a place I had ties to.
More pictures from Phoenixville Steel Site
A website with a very nice write up on the history of the mill
7 comments:
Sad when things that had a big part of our youth go away like that. Reminds me of our trip up to NY last May. Buildings where there had been none, companies that had been there gone.....really sad.
These building were pretty hideous, so they aren't much of a loss - the workers lost their jobs though... and its been at least ten years now... and the site still looks like a ruin.
So what do they do? They destroy a farm to build new houses instead of cleaning up this mess. That gets to me.
Who actually owns all of this property now?
*nods* Im with you there iggy
I dug around to see who 'owned' the site and its hard to find anything clear cut.
The museum building was renovated by the Phoenixville Area Economic Development Corporation (PAEDCO) which may own that building and possibly the whole site. I think PAEDCO was set up primarily to get government grant monies.
I suspect that when the Steel Mill went bankrupt, they defaulted on their real estate taxes and the local government ended up with both the property and the mess on their hands.
The museum isn't open yet (looking in the windows, it doesn't even have a floor yet) and its been years in the making.
Lots of "marketing hype" going on and not much seems to be actually happening.
Undated (August 2007? - Lot of Hype) News Article
P.s., It might be an interesting project to do a what is there "now" and what was there "then" post.
My elementary school is now a parking lot for Merck and Co., for instance.
Sounds like an interesting project, Iggy.
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