TheIllinois Steel Company was an Americansteel producer with five plants inIllinois andWisconsin. Founded through aconsolidation in 1889, Illinois Steel grew to become the largest steel producer in the United States. In 1898, several other steel and transportation companies weremerged into it to form theFederal Steel Company, itself merged intoU.S. Steel in 1901.
The first mill associated with the Illinois Steel Company was the North Chicago Rolling Mill, founded inChicago, Illinois byEber Brock Ward in 1857 as a mill to re-roll iron rails.[1] In 1865, this mill was converted into a steel mill, shortly after theBessemer process was introduced. The Illinois Steel Company was founded in 1889 following the consolidation of three companies; The North Chicago Rolling Mill Company had plants in Chicago,South Chicago, Chicago (1880), andMilwaukee, Wisconsin (1868), The Union Iron Company (1863) of Chicago and theJoliet Steel Company (1870) were also involved in the merge. The company was based in theRookery Building in downtown Chicago. Branch offices operated in theEmpire Building inNew York, New York; thePioneer Press Building inSaint Paul, Minnesota; theCuyahoga Building inCleveland, Ohio; theSecurity Building inSt. Louis, Missouri; and an office inDenver, Colorado.[2]
The Illinois Steel Company became the largest steel company in the state. The company also owned a controlling interest in theChicago, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, coal mines inWest Virginia andPennsylvania, iron mines inMichigan andWisconsin, and limestone mines inIndiana. Illinois Steel grew to become one of the largest steel and iron producers in the country by the late 1880s, producing over 1.1 million tons ofpig iron and about one million tons of steel. The company specialized inrail track (including rail, fastenings, and steel plates),mineral wool, wire, pig iron, andhydraulicPortland cement. Railroads using Illinois Steel products included theAtchison, Topeka & Santa Fe,Wabash,Chicago & Alton, andBaltimore & Ohio. Pig iron operations were handled in conjunction withPickands, Brown & Company.[2]
The success of Illinois Steel did not go unchecked. TheCarnegie Steel Company had a more efficient operation inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania and sought to force Illinois Steel into receivership. Carnegie sold steel near Chicago at only eighteen cents a ton, forcing Illinois Steel to sell their products below production cost. The ploy worked and by 1896, Illinois Steel had drawn papers to place the company into receivership. Before these papers could be filed, however, Illinois Steel decided to focus on expanding their market to the west of Chicago, where Carnegie lacked sufficient supply lines. This strategy proved successful.[3]
In 1898, the Illinois Steel Company acquired theMinnesota Iron Company, Lorain Steel Company of Ohio, the Johnson Company of Pennsylvania, and theElgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, forming the Federal Steel Company. Upon completion of the merge, general counselElbert Henry Gary became president of the company.
In February 1901, Gary worked withJ. P. Morgan to have him acquire Carnegie Steel. Days after the acquisition was approved, Gary announced his intent to merge Federal Steel into Carnegie to form what would be known asU.S. Steel. The new company began operations on April 1, 1901.[2]
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