Stuebenville Steel
This Wheeling-Pitt Steel Mill was originally constructed by LaBelle Iron Works in 1899 on the site of a 3 year old nail factory, who converted it to make sheets of steel and other materials by constructing two blast furnaces, an open-hearth steelwork, plate mills, sheet mills, and tube works. On June 21, 1920, the Wheeling Steel Corporation was created, bringing together three independent companies from the area—LaBelle Iron Works, Whitaker-Glessner Company, and Wheeling Steel & Iron Company. During the Great Depression it continued acquiring new properties, modernizing its facilities, and steadily expanded its production of flat rolled steel products. One of the first major undertakings at Wheeling Steel was the installation at Steubenville of new blooming mills and a continuous sheet-bar mill which enabled the finishing mill to be independent of purchased raw material. Facing financial issues due to over expansion, Wheeling merged with Pittsburgh Steel Company on December 5, 1968. The general decline in the US steel industry effected Wheeling Pitt as well, eventually declaring bankruptcy in 1985. They emerged from bankruptcy in 1991, and was the only US steel company to post a profit. But again, the late 90s brought the same problems of foreign competition, and the company declared bankruptcy again in 2000. (http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Wheeling-Pittsburgh_Corp.aspx)
This Steubenville mill appears to have closed in 2005. When the blast furnaces were silenced, they were some of the oldest blast furnaces in the US. Despite promises to reopen by RG Steel, who purchased the mill after it's closure, the mill was sold to Herman Strauss, a metal scrapping company, who demolished the mill over several years.
