Weirton Steel Works

The Weirton Steel Works is a large mill that recently shut down. It was founded in 1909, and was one of the largest producers of tin plate in the nation, with 12,000 employees at its peak. With the collapse of the steel industry nationwide, the plant shrank through the 1970s and the 1980s, and was sold to its employees. At the time, it was the largest employee-owned company in the nation. In 2001 it was bankrupt, and bought by ISG, which is now part of Arcelor Mittal. The plant, which once produced 3 million tons of raw steel annually, stopped making new steel in 2007. The facilities are slowly being demolished. The coke plant, located in the middle of the river on Browns Island, has been leveled. Some of the blast furnaces have been scrapped.