McLouth Steel Trenton Plant

A few miles down the Detroit River from Detroit, south of the active U.S. Steel Great Lake Works plant, is an abandoned integrated steel mill, McLouth Steel’s Trenton Plant. It operated from 1949 to 1996, and many of the continuous casting techniques now common in the industry were pioneered here. It was also the first plant to integrate a modern basic oxygen furnace, in 1954, which became a standard at large scale plants. The plant has been abandoned, and pieces are being scrapped—turned back into steel at the Great Lake Works.