"the changing scene at sparrow's point, part ii (1976)

7/24/2019 "The Changing Scene at Sparrow's Point, Part II (1976)

1/12

PART

II

At the March 1

meeting

of the

Engineer's

Club

Russell

R.

Jones, General Manager,

turned

back the clock to cover

nearly 9 years

of

Sparrows

Point

history.

n

his slide-show

presentation

entitled

The Changing Scene

at Sparrows Point ,

Mr. Jones

traced

the growth and development of Bethlehem's

largest steel

plant

all against the backdrop of the town

that grew

up beside

it

and

then

slowly

gave

way

to

the

forces

of change.

This feature is

the

second of a series of articles based on

Mr. Jones' talk.

The

nation's

Bicentennial

year, as he

said,

is an appropriate time to

share

the

plant's

colorful history

with all

members of

management.

Management

Conference Agenda

Feature

July

1976


2/12

'

n

I f it be

true, as

bas been

said,

that he is a public benefactor who

causes two

blades

of

grass

to'

grow where

only one grew before,

then it

must also

be

true

that he

who

provides

two places of employment for man_

where only one existed before i t ~ also a public benefactor. & rely

we

do

well

to

express our

appreciation to

that

man

who

has

the

rare

gift of

organization

and development

which

enables

him

to

provide

new places for

work nd

wages that

mean happiness to thousands

of

people. "

Those words were spoken by Mayor James H. Preston

as

he welcomed Charles S Schwab

to Baltimore

at

a banquet (see photo, cover page) held in his

honor at

the

Belvedere

Hotel

on

the evening of November 21, 1916.

Mr. Schwab, who

was

being feted

for

Bethlehem s acquisition of the Sparrows Point pro-

perty,

painted

a glowing picture of the plans

that

were. to make the Point one of the bigg-

est,

most diversified steel

plants

in the U.S. The following photographs show

that Mr.

Schwab's

plans

were

soon

to become

reality.

~ 1 .

In 1917, the

year

America

entered

World War I, our 110"

plate

mill went into service

. Overall

view

of sheet and tin division, which also

started turning

out product in 1917.

Sheet nd tin heating

operation. @

Rolling operation

in same division with

roller

.and catcher shown.


3/12

DMrs.

C.

M.

Schwab

Q)

Mr.

F.

W.

Wood

G)Mr.C.M.Schwab

D

Mr.E.G.Grace

(DMrs.E.G.Grace

Mr.

and Mrs. Schwab, and

Mr.

and

Mrs.

Grace

were guests

of honor

at the launching of the

S. S.

CUBORE, the first ore carrier

built

at the

Sparrows

Point

shipyard.

Incidentally

Mr. Wood was the

first

general

manager

after Bethlehem acquired the

Sparrows Point property.

As Mr. Schwab had predicted three years earlier constant

growth

and

development

were in store for the

Point. The

next series

of

photos tells

the story better

than

words could do

The plant got its second open

hearth

shop 1919 ) .

and its first rod mill 1926 ) .

dt .


4/12

Nail

mill in operation. Original

lapweld and buttweld

pipe

mills.

@ Pipe

mill

hot-dip galvanizing unit. @ The 42 cold reducing mills. Placed in service in

1936

they used Lackawanna

bands

until 1937, when the 56 hot strip

mill was

completed. First alkaline tinning

lines.

(Compared to the

hot

dip method, the

electrolytic process

used

much less tin, which became increasingly scarce after

Japan

occupied

Malaysia in

World War

II.)


5/12

TilE TOWN IN ITS HEYDAY : 1919 - 1929

By

this time,

obviously, the

plant was

a

truly diversified

operation a

far

cry from

the

early days,

when rails

were our

principal finished product. And the town of Spar

Point

had also become diversified offering practically

all

the services and ame

ties

that were

needed t make

it

a

self-sufficient

community.

The

faculty

of the

elementary

school poses

at

the

entrance

to

the building.

This restaurant at

4th

and

C streets

later became the Beth-Mary Inn.

The

residents

of

Sparrows

Point

were

noted for the pride

they

took in

their

town. Th

following photos (most of them taken in 1928) show why the community was truly a

great

place

to

live.

.

with its tree-lined

streets

and carefully

tended

lawns.


6/12

- - - - - ~ - - - ~ ~ - - = - - - ; = - < = - = = = - = = = ~ = =

ts

attractive

homes

and bungalows

its handsome churches

itsB street

clubhouse

where parties banquets and

dances

were held

and

its

high school photo of corner-

stone laying

ceremonies was taken in 1921)


7/12

'

its

main

drag

( D

street

)

and its mass transit system .

A two-

car

Red Rocket

trolley

is shown rounding the

corner

of 4th

and

D

its D street stores. and ice cream parlor, conveniently located

next to

the

Boy Scout headquarters.

its

bank,

then

paying

4 interest

and

its movie

theatre,

the Lyceum, which at the time the photo was taken was showing

Man, Woman and Sin , starring John

Gilbert

and Jeane Eagels


8/12

its fire house at 4th and D and its 9th street stores. A Black

Flag

advertisement

in

the Peoples Drug store announced

' 'War

Declared

on

Ants

"

Meanwhile, the A P next door was selling watermelons for

4 5 ~

each,

and

soap

went

at

for three

bars

and its Fourth of

July

parades. A bathing

beauty adorns

the

float of the 1929 parade the last one held at the Point. t

was

the

forerunner

of the

big

annual

celebration

which

now

takes

place in

Dundalk.

The

year

1929 marked

the

start of the Great Depression . Although construction began

on

No. 3

open hearth

that same year, the continuing economic slump forced the shop to'

remain idle until the mid-thirties. Eventually, the nation

started

on the road to recovery

and the

steel business began

to

pick

up. But the

plant

was soon

confronted with

new

challenges

one of

which

was union organization. The

consent

election

was held at

Sparrows Point in the

fall of 1941.


9/12

A polling

place

in one of our

chem labs.

THE WAR

YEARS;

1941 - 1945

Mter the ballots were

counted,

an agreement

was

signed with the

union. . and the term

bargaining unit became

a fact of life at

the

Point.

But

only a few

months

later

we

were

to

be

faced

with another

milestone

that was perhaps

the

greatest challenge of all

time

the

Second

World

War.

Up

to that time it had been their war , but suddenly it became our war when the

Japanese attacked

Pearl Harbor

on December 7,

1941. More

than

any

other conflict

in

the past, this one depended on

an

all-out involvement by the civilian

population.

n

response

to

President

Roosevelt's

appeal, our

country did

indeed

become

the

arsenal

of demo

cracy .

Hitler

scoffed

when Americans

began

talking matter-of-factly

about deliver

ing tens of thousands of planes and

tanks

not just

thousands

and

even our allies wondered i we

were

serious.

But

as it turned.

out, the

United

states

was as good as its word.

Any plant

which exceeded its

produc

tion

goal

was

given the coveted

Army

Navy E Award for

exceptional

per

formance on

the

industrial front.

Sparrows Point

earned

this honor

in

less than

a

year

after the

attack on

Pearl Harbor.

o doubt many Pointers were among the estimated 20,000 people who attended the award

ceremonies,

held

in

front of the

B

street clubhouse.


10/12

James Forrestal secretary of the Navy makes the award speech

. . . Stewart J. Cort

general manager accepts.


11/12

The E pennant

is displayed by Mr. Cort

and

another official.


12/12

latintJll :expansi

"the changing scene at sparrow's point, part ii (1976)

Documents