Joliet Iron and Steel Works

Joliet Steel Works
1901 photo of the steel works at Joliet
Joliet Iron and Steel Works is located in Illinois
Joliet Iron and Steel Works
Joliet Iron and Steel Works is located in the United States
Joliet Iron and Steel Works
LocationJoliet, Illinois
Nearest cityChicago
Coordinates41°32′24″N 88°04′46″W / 41.54007930°N 88.07932360°W / 41.54007930; -88.07932360[1]
Built1869
Built byUnion Coal, Iron and Transportation Company
Websitewww.reconnectwithnature.org/Preserves-Trails/Preserves/Joliet-Iron-Works-Historic-Site Edit this at Wikidata
Part ofForest Preserve District of Will County
NRHP reference No.91000088
Added to NRHP1991-02-28
Joliet Iron & Steel Works in the 1870s
Ruins of the gas engine house at the old ironworks. Joliet Prison is visible in the background.
Ruins of gas washers at the Joliet Iron Works Historic Site.

The Joliet Iron and Steel Works was once the second largest steel mill in the United States.[2] Joliet Iron Works was initially run from 1869 to 1936.[3][4] Joliet Steel Works eventually became unprofitable, and all operations were ceased by the early 1980s.[5]

In the 1990s, the Forest Preserve District of Will County purchased the property containing the ruins of the ironworks to preserve a piece of history. The district operates the site as the Joliet Iron Works Historic Site.[6]

  1. ^ "Joliet Iron Works Historic Site" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  2. ^ Schultz, Mark (2004-03-15). "Awakening the Historical Imagination". In Nancy Workman and Therese Jones (ed.). Dimensions of Curiosity: Liberal Learning in the 21st Century. University Press of America. p. 39. ISBN 0-7618-2760-9.
  3. ^ National Park Service (1995). National Register of Historic Places 1966 to 1994. John Wiley & Sons. p. 201. ISBN 0-471-14403-7.
  4. ^ Warren, Kenneth (2001). Big Steel: The First Century of the United States Steel Corporation, 1901-2001. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 266. ISBN 0-8229-4160-0.
  5. ^ Warren, 332.
  6. ^ Forest Preserve District of Will County, Joliet Iron Works Historic Site Brochure, 2011