Partnership | |
Industry | Steel, Coke, Railroad |
Successor | U.S. Steel |
Founded | 1 July 1892 |
Founder | Andrew Carnegie |
Defunct | March 2, 1901 |
Headquarters | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Key people
|
Andrew Carnegie Henry Clay Frick |
Products | steel, coal, coke, railroad Flat-rolled steel Tubular steel |
Services | manufacturing |
Carnegie Steel Company was a steel producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates, in order to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company formed in 1892 and was subsequently sold in 1901 in one of the largest ever business transactions of the early 20th century, to become the major component of the United States Steel Corporation. The subsequent sale made Carnegie one of the richest men in history.
Carnegie began the construction of his first steel mill, the Edgar Thomson Steel Works in 1872 at Braddock, Pennsylvania. The Thomson Steel Works began producing rails in 1874. Owing to a combination of low wages, efficient technology infrastructure investment and an efficient organisation, the mill was able to produce cheap steel, which sold for a large profit in the growing markets of industrial development. Carnegie alone estimated that 40% was returned on the investment i.e. a profit of $40,000 from a $100,000 investment in the mill.
The profits made by the Edgar Thomson Steel Works were sufficiently great to permit Carnegie and a number of his associates, including Henry Clay Frick to purchase other nearby steel mills. These included the Homestead Steel Works which Carnegie acquired in 1883. The presence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers provided a way to transport the heavy materials associated with the steel-making industry. Each plant was located close to or alongside a river.
Carnegie agreed to Frick's subsequent proposal that the various plants and assets be consolidated into one company. This consolidation occurred on July 1, 1892 with the formation of the Carnegie Steel Company.
The company headquarters were located in the Carnegie Building, an early skyscraper in Downtown Pittsburgh. Built to show its use of steel in its construction, the building was fifteen stories high, and was left uncovered for a full year. The Carnegie Building was demolished in 1952. It was later rebuilt as a memorial in 2012.