#OnThisDay Lackawanna Iron & Steel Company begin construction on a new steel mill in the Buffalo suburbs. The company, previously based in Scranton, PA in the Lackawanna Valley, was looking to expand and set their sites on Buffalo.
With the amount of laborers moving around the new steel plant, the Town of Lackawanna was established in 1902, holding the namesake of the Company employing most of the town. In the mid-20s, Lackawanna Iron & Steel became a subsidary of Bethlehem Steel, owned by Charles Schwab and Joseph Wharton. After the rise of the steel industry in Eastern Asia, the Bethelem Steel plant stopped producing steel in 1983, with coke production ceasing in 2001.
What are you thoughts when you pass the massive structure that was Bethlehem Steel? Was your family affected when Bethlehem Steel closed?
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