McKeesport
McKeesport was home to the McKeesport National Tube Works.
The Tube
Works were founded in 1872 by Boston industrialist John H. Flager. The
plant's primary purpose was the production of steel pipes for all sorts of
purposes.
The plant began to expand rapidly. During the 1870's the Tube Works added
several mills, a foundary, and pipe furnaces. By 1890 the Tube Works
employed over 3,000 men and soon brought in the first two blast furnaces
to supply iron for the plant. A group of Bessener furnaces were built in
1892-1893, these furnaces employed over 1,000 people by themselves! In
1891 McKeesport was said to be the fastest growing city in the nation, due
almost entirely to the Works. By 1901 the National Tube Works was the
largest pipe producing plant in the world. The plant was later
incorporated into U.S. Steel in the giant merger of 1901.