Tonawanda Iron and Steel
Dublin Core
Title
Tonawanda Iron and Steel
Description
You wouldn't know it from the site today, but the massive plant of the Tonawanda Iron and Steel Company once occupied all the land along the Niagara River from Wheatfield Street to present-day Fisherman's Park.
Iron is first produced on this site in 1872 by the Niagara Furnace Company. After about a year, production stops. In 1889, Tonawanda Iron & Steel buys and modernizes the plant. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in 1895.
The iron plant draws workers to the area, many Hungarian and Polish, who settle in a village called "Ironton," just north of North Tonawanda proper.
Somewhere around 1912 poor management and a poor economy stop the furnaces again. The plant lies unused until purchased by Tonawanda Iron Corp. in 1922.
By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park.
Iron is first produced on this site in 1872 by the Niagara Furnace Company. After about a year, production stops. In 1889, Tonawanda Iron & Steel buys and modernizes the plant. President McKinley fires up its mighty Furnace B with great ceremony and the flip of a switch from his home in Ohio in 1895.
The iron plant draws workers to the area, many Hungarian and Polish, who settle in a village called "Ironton," just north of North Tonawanda proper.
Somewhere around 1912 poor management and a poor economy stop the furnaces again. The plant lies unused until purchased by Tonawanda Iron Corp. in 1922.
By 2017, the site has been cleared and converted into a small medical park and Fisherman's Park.
Source
"Tonawanda Iron Corp., Is One of Largest Manufacturers of Pig Iron." Tonawanda News, 1929 (in this collection).
