Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Midvale Steel

An outstanding example of an industry no longer operating in Nicetown was Midvale Steel, founded in 1867 as the Butcher Steel Works and named for William Butcher, a recent immigrant steelmaker from Sheffield, Great Britain. Butcher enlisted the aide of importer Philip Justice and banker Edward Clark and shortly thereafter, began steel production in direct competition with the Pencoyd Iron Works in Manayunk and Henry Disston’s crucible steel plant in the Northern Liberties. Butcher died three years later and the company was subsequently taken over by William Sellers, a local machine tool builder.

The company's name was changed to Midvale Steel in 1872 and three years later, it landed its first contract with the U.S. Navy. Later contracts for steel were soon had with Baldwin Locomotive, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and John Roebling’s Sons (builders of the Brooklyn Bridge); by 1912 the site covered over fifty acres and employed over 3,500 workers.

Midvale’s huge success is attributed, in part, to the fact that it was organized and managed by a consortium of financial interests as well as people trained in the making of steel. (Most other Philadelphia industries were owned and operated simply by people trained in their specific fields.)

In 1915, Midvale merged with the Cambria Steel Company of Johnstown, Pennsylvania and two other steel companies near Philadelphia to become the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company. This merger, according to Scranton and Licht, was motivated by the efforts of “a syndicate of steelmakers trained by Carnegie and Wall Street bankers;” the timing of the merger enabled the company to capitalize on enormous war-related contracts for the Army and the Navy during World War I.

By 1919, Midvale’s payroll swelled to 7,300. After the war, in the 1920s, the company’s productivity declined dramatically and Bethlehem Steel gained control of Cambria and several other portions of the company. Midvale itself reorganized as the Midvale Company and set out to diversify its production and tighten its workforce.

By 1928, the number of employees on the payroll had dropped to 1,800. During that time, it also became one of the nation’s largest producers of armor plate steel for ships and tanks. It also produced large forgings, propellers and shafts for ships, chemical vessels, and marine engines.

Midvale Steel was the home of one of America’s foremost innovators in labor efficiency—Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor grew up in Germantown, the child of a wealthy family. He attended good schools, but instead of pursuing college, he apprenticed in a Philadelphia machine shop.

In 1878, he came to work at Midvale as a day laborer, rose to clerk, then to machinist, then to gang boss, and finally to Chief Engineer prior to his leaving the company in 1890.

During his tenure, Taylor became intensely interested in the efficient management of work-related time. Using methods introduced by Charles Brinley, Taylor systematically developed techniques to raise the efficiency of production throughout the entire plant to an exceptionally high level.

Taylor believed that each workman should be given, as far as possible, the highest grade of work for which his ability and physique were fitted, that each workman should be called upon to turn out the maximum amount of work that a first-rate man of his class should do, and thrive, and that each workman, when working at the best pace of a first-class man, should be paid from 30 to 100% beyond the average of his class, according to the nature of the work he was doing.

Taylor introduced an elaborate system of time studies to determine precisely how much time should be allowed for each operation, first into the machine shop and later into other departments. He then developed a “differential” piece rate system (in accordance with Brinley’s methods) under which an employee’s pay rate was based upon his output and efficiency.

Taylor’s ideas stemmed from the concept that workers operate at a much lower level of productivity than their actual capability. If their capabilities were scientifically determined, and if workers received proper pay incentives for producing at their capacity, then productivity, wages, and profits would all be substantially improved. Taylor’s ideas were opposite to those of the “welfare work” movement which was based on the idea that improving a worker’s welfare (his place, lot, etc.) would inspire the worker to seek self-betterment, loyalty to the company and cooperation.

Taylor left Midvale in 1890 and soon began establishing similar work studies at the Manufacturing Investment Company (a paper manufacturer), and eventually at Bethlehem Steel.

Midvale’s slowdown after World War I led to experimentation and innovation in new products by the company. One of the products, a nickel and chrome alloy steel (originally developed for military uses) found an effective use in the auto industry. However, in spite of these developments, the Depression hurt Midvale seriously and by 1933, only 800 workers were on the site.

The demands of the recovery in the late 1930s, and the threats of war brought activity back to Midvale, in staggering proportions. By 1940, the site had grown to 80 acres.

Wartime production caused employment to swell as the company produced steel for the Army and the Navy. After the War, Midvale’s production began to drop off, and during the 1960s, its life slowly started to come to an end.

In 1970, the newly reorganized Midvale-Heppenstal Corporation began the systematic shutdown of the Nicetown plant; its eulogy was written by Scranton and Licht.

The last to close of our four nineteenth-century Philadelphia plants, Midvale is soon to be demolished. For the moment, its massive forge hammers are still in place, but they will never again shake the earth with their power. Their silence leaves a bitter emptiness after a century of steel and sweat.

Information Taken http://www.workshopoftheworld.com/introduction/introduction.html

9 comments:

Ruth Ann said...

Pat I have been out of the Falls for a long time, but I remember when my Uncle Sam worked for Midvale Steel and I thought it was located on Indian Queen Lane of course this was in the 50's so I could be wrong. Also my grandfather worked for over 30 years for Atwater Kent started with automotive then went on to making radios, until he got left go. Also I don't know if you even read these comments but do you remember the bathie on Ridge Ave. and a little grocery store run by a lady named Helen it was located between Indian Queen Lane I am not sure of the street because years ago there was a school there named Breck School it would have been under where the Boulevard is on Ridge Ave. Love reading your blog keeps me touch with my wonderful past in East Falls.

Patricia Marie said...

Hi Ruth Ann,
Yes, I read all my comments and though I do not remember the bathie, my mother remembers it. As far as your other questions, I will try and answer them all as soon as possible. I am glad you like to read this blog because I love to write it. Check back again and if possible leave a way for me to contact you. Do you have an email address?

Ruth Ann said...

Pat,

My e-mail address is ruthtavani@hotmail.com
It was a pleasure to know that you read my comment, I always read your blog waiting to see if their will be any you know 6 degree of separation kinda a thing. ha ha
My mother will be 84 this Wednesday and her sisters are 95 & 90 I don't know how old your mother or father are, but does your mother remember Breck School.
My Aunt and Uncle lived on Ridge Ave. their name were Mildred and Ter Noll, he was a television repair man who worked out of his home. Also does she know of the Old Smith Mansion that sat on top of Plush Hill. Can't wait to hear from you. Keep up the good work.

Ruth Ann Noll Tavani

rearden215 said...

Midvale also deserves credit for being at the intellectual crossroads of the nineteenth century's industrial revolution.

Few are aware that, in addition to Fred Taylor's work in scientific management, was the establishment of the first standard industrial machine screw specification by Mr. Sellers and the invention of the Gantt Chart for project planning by Henry Gantt which is still the world industry standard for planning.

Midvale served as the industrial equivalent of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) during the early computer age.

Tom Bosak said...

June 26, 2009 Today, I finally read the Sunday, May 31, 2009 180 years Special Editionin the Philadelphia Inquirer and I found Midvale Heppenstal and I saw in your blog that it is the same as Midvale Steel or grew out of that company. My grandfather from Butler St. 2 blocks in from Broad St. at St. Stephen's Church in Philadelphia worked there. His name was Joseph Bosack and my younger brother Joe remembered that our grandfather was a millwright.
Have the final buildimgs of the plant been demolished? In any case, what streets were these final buildings located on? If there is something still standing, I would like to go take pictures.
Do you know of any listing of former employees? I know that is a longshot, but I thought I would ask.
My e-mail is Tom_Bosak@yahoo.com.
Thank you.
Tom Bosack or Bosak-there is another story behind the two different spellings.

Anonymous said...

I get back to philly where I lived in Manayunk every so often. I used to date a girl who went to Roxborough HS who lived on Abbotsford Ave. We would walk over to Wissahickon Ave by the mill. But, There is not much left of the Midvale steel co. the site is now a SEPTA bus garage. SEPTA busses have small letters under their windshield "Midvale QC" on the front right side below the windshield of the bus. The Luzern Depot was sold and on the old steel mill site was built a bus garage About 1/4 of the original Midvale site is covered by the bus garage which is at the NW corner near the Bullevard expressway . The facility is also used by the SEPTA commuter railroad. Trolleys were stored for rebuilding on the Wissahickon Ave. side near the old steel works office building. Some very large concrete foundations remain probably from the base of the furnaces. A driveway from the Wissahickon Ave leads to the garage it is transit property and is patrolled. If you have GOOGLE EARTH you will see what has become of the Midvale steel works.

lou b said...

I get back to philly, where I lived in Manayunk for 20 years, every so often. I used to date a girl, Pam, who went to Roxborough HS who lived on Abbotsford Ave. We would walk over to Wissahickon Ave by the mill. But, There is not much left of the Midvale steel co. the site is now a SEPTA bus garage. SEPTA busses have small letters "Midvale QC" on the front right side below the windshield of the bus. The Luzerne Depot was sold and on the old steel mill site was built a bus garage. About 1/4 of the original Midvale site is covered by the bus garage which is at the NW corner near the Bulevard expressway and the Reading Railroad . The facility is also used by the SEPTA commuter railroad. Trolleys were stored for rebuilding on the Wissahickon Ave. side near the old steel works office building. Some very large concrete foundations remain probably from the base of the furnaces. A driveway from the Wissahickon Ave leads to the garage it is transit property and is patrolled. If you have GOOGLE EARTH you will see what has become of the Midvale steel works.

Malthouseengineering said...

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Walt Stepek said...

I just discovered your blog post about Midvale Steel. I grew up on Deacon Street, less than a block away from the plant. My father, both grandfathers, and one uncle all worked there, and I had a summer job there while I was in college. My Dad was a lathe operator and my one grandfather operated one of the huge press hammers. My summer job was as a laborer--probably the only time in my life when I was in really good shape! In my free time I would hang out or play ball with friends in Fernhill Park, right across Roberts Avenue from the mill. I could go on and on, but suffice to say this article brought back a ton of memories.