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Cambria Iron Company______Other Names/Site Number Cambria Iron Works: Lower Works

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Cambria Iron Company______Other Names/Site Number Cambria Iron Works: Lower Works NPS Form 10-900 OMBNo. 1024-0018 (Rev. 8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials, and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets (Form 10-900a). Type all entries. 1. Name of Property_____________ historic name Cambria Iron Company________________________________________ other names/site number Cambria Iron Works: Lower Works. Gautip.r Plant-. Franklin Plant- Plant, Rod and Wire Plant, all of Cambria Steel Coman r-ontinnatinn 2. Location street & number N/A I I not for publication city, town Johnstown I I vicinity state Pennsvlvanicpode PA county Cambria code PA no-] zip code is QO 7 3. Classification Ownership of Property Category of Property Number of Resources within Property fxl private I I building(s) Contributing Noncontributing I I public-local Ex3 district ____ ____ buildings F~l public-State EH site See continuation shQe^Jtes I I public-Federal I I structure ____ ____ structures I I object ____ ____ objects ____ ____Total Name of related multiple property listing: Number of contributing resources previously ________N/A ___________ listed in the National Register None 4. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this EH nomination EH request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property EJ meets EJdoes not meet the National Register criteria. EJsee continuation sheet. Signature of certifying official Date State or Federal agency and bureau In my opinion, the property El] meets Ejdoes not meet the National Register criteria. El] See continuation sheet. Signature of commenting or other official Date State or Federal agency and bureau 5. National Park Service Certification I, hereby, certify that this property is: El] entered in the National Register. I | See continuation sheet. I I determined eligible for the National Register. { | See continuation sheet. I I determined not eligible for the National Register. I I removed from the National Register. [ I other, (explain:) ___________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions) Current Functions (enter categories from instructions) INDUSTRY/manufacturing facility________ INDTTSTRY/marmfapi-nrinor fap-i 1-i1-y 7. Description Architectural Classification Materials (enter categories from instructions) (enter categories from instructions) Other: Vernacular Industrial foundation brick tln wallsuollo * roof _____wood, wrought iron, steel other ____steel, tin___________ Describe present and historic physical appearance. Description of Property The Cambria Iron Company, founded in 1852 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was established to supply iron rails for the burgeoning railroad network. Construction of four coke blast furnaces and a rolling mill began, and local and regional sources of water, coal, timber, and iron ore were utilized to feed the ironmaking process. The plant grew, adopted the Bessemer and open hearth steelmaking processes, and became the largest works in the United States by the 1870s. The capacity to produce manufactured rods, parts for agricultural implements, and wire drawing was added in 1878 with the building of the Gautier Works. The formation of the Cambria Steel Company in 1898 signalled massive growth, with the construction of several plants. A new facility for wire products was built in 1911 after Gautier's destruction in the 1889 Johnstown Flood. Initial construction of the Franklin Plant began in 1898 and continued throughout several decades. This plant contained large rolling mills, a by-product coke plant, blast furnaces, open hearth furnaces, and a steel car manufacturing facility. More building occurred when the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company assumed control of the plant in 1916. The manufacture of rolled freight car wheels and other circular products began with the Wheel Plant's construction in 1917- 1918. In 1923 Bethlehem Steel Company acquired the entire Johnstown Plant and embarked upon a major modernization plan which turned the facilities into a modern and coordinated steel mill. The Johnstown Plant, as it has evolved from the initial Cambria Iron Works, presently extends for approximately 12 miles along the Conemaugh and Little Conemaugh rivers. Lower Works The oldest section of the former Cambria Iron Company is the Lower Works, located on river bottom land nestled between the west face of Prospect Hill and the east side of the Conemaugh River just north of the confluence of the Little Conemaugh River and Stonycreek River in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The integrity of the site regarding location, design, setting, materials, feeling, and association is good. The property retains the look and feel of an industrial plant, and finishing of steel products still occurs in several areas. The evolution of the iron and steelmaking process is visible in the changes of the buildings and structures themselves. Several buildings associated with iron and steelmaking remain, these being identified primarily with auxiliary or support services. Structures in the Lower Works closely identified with the iron and steelmaking process have been demolished, including blast furnaces, Bessemer furnaces, open hearth furnaces, and various mills associated with rolling rail. These were replaced with buildings QSee continuation sheet ITLA. 8. Statement of Significance Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: c . i 1 I I I I Dec COriLinU.3t.lOn [XJj nationally |_(statewide |_| locally Applicable National Register Criteria C]A [HJB Qc QD Applicable National Historic Landmark Criteria 124 Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) I |A I IB I JC I ID I IE I |p I |G Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Period of Significance Significant Dates Industry______________________ 1852-present________ 1857 Fritz mill Architecture____________________ __________________ 1857-62 Kelly Engineering___________________ _________________ ____experiments Ethnic Heritage European_________ 1867 Bessemer rails ______________________________ Cultural Affiliation rolled ______________________________ __________N/A_____________ Significant Person Architect/Builder Fritz, John _____________________ Cambria Iron Company f Cambria Steel Company., Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company,, ____ ___________________________________Bethlehem Steel Company _____________ State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above. Significance Founded in 1852, the Cambria Iron Company was considered one of the greatest of the early modern iron and steel works. In the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s, Johnstown attracted some of the best engineers, innovators, and managers in the industry and was the technological leader in the manufacture of iron and steel rail. Iron and steel technology was advanced through invention and industrial design at the Lower Works in Johnstown, innovations which were widely copied by other iron and steel companies throughout the country. These contributions included experimentation with the Kelly converter from 1857-1862; first use of the three high roll mill to produce iron railroad rails in 1857; development of the first blooming mill for breaking down ingots, the first hydraulic manipulator for turning over and moving ingots, and the first mechanical driving of rollers in the mill tables; early conversion to the Bessemer steel process in 1871; and first U. S. commercial production of steel railroad rails in 1867. Throughout the years of the steel industry's growth and dominance, Cambria remained a large independent company (third largest in 1904, fifth largest in 1916), becoming the Cambria Steel Company in 1898 during an age of steel consolidation. In 1916 it was purchased by the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company. In 1923 the Bethlehem Steel Company purchased the entire Johnstown plant, thereby making it a component of the second largest steel company in the United States. Under Bethlehem's stewardship the plant was modernized, it participated in the World War mobilization of industry, it accepted organized labor, and it changed from war to peacetime operations to contribute to U. S. dominance in steel after 1945. Responses to postwar challenges to that dominance can be seen in the remaining machinery and the steelmaking and manufacturing processes presently occurring on site. The Johnstown plant's significance lies in its growth, from an integrated company specializing in iron and steel rail, to an expansive plant offering a diversity of steel products; a continuum reflecting the evolution of the industry nationwide. The Cambria Iron Company's
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