The Newtown Pentacle

Monday

– photo by Mitch Waxman

The Rivers of Steel organization has been mentioned here before, in the context of a boat tour which they conducted on the Monongahela River which I had attended. Newtown Pentacle offered three posts about what was observed while onboard the boat – here are – part 1, part 2, part 3 of what I saw on that stormy day. Another one of the interesting programming offers found on the group’s website was a ‘photo safari.’ I bought a ticket for that one, and drove the Mobile Oppression Platform – as I call the Toyota – over to the community of Swissvale, PA., where the somewhat skeletal remains of the ‘Carrie Furnace’ steel mill still stands.

This facility was part of the U.S. Steel Homestead Steel Works, which was formerly occupied both sides of the Monongahela River in this area. The plant was built in 1881, and bought by Andrew Carnegie in 1883. Carnegie Steel soon operated what would become the largest steel mill in all the world here. Homestead was fed raw materials from hundreds if not thousands of miles away, coming to it from every direction, and carried by private railways and fleets of steamships. In 1901, Carnegie sold his company to JP Morgan’s U.S. Steel combine. By WW2, 15,000 people worked at the Homestead Works. In 1986, Homestead closed down.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Carrie Furnace was a blast furnace, which is something I wish I could offer you a long winded explanation of. Thing is, this topic is way outside of my personal or prior experiences. I’ve spent a lot of time over the years getting to understand how petroleum and coal are exploited industrially, back in NYC and specifically at Newtown Creek. I can give a speech on command about how gas is manufactured from coal or low grade oil, the commercially valuable by-products thereof, the pollutants and or toxins left behind by the process. I know precious little about metals manufacturing so no long winded explanation is on offer, just a long winded excuse. Google it, that’s what I’m doing.

Apparently, what’s still standing here on the 135 acre site of Carrie Furnace are the #6 and #7 furnaces, and several of the ‘out buildings.’ There’s also fragments of a rail transportation system hanging about.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

Upon arriving at the site, and there were probably about 20-25 other people with DSLR’s and fancy camera bags, the Rivers of Steel peeps asked us to sign waivers, and we were then handed hard hats. A guide from the group walked us through the places we would be allowed to go. There’s several spots in the buildings which are not stable, which the guide pointed out to us. Yellow chains were hung here and there, or yellow caution tape, which indicated ‘no go’ zones. Our guide walked us through and around the site as an introduction, and then she said ‘see you in a few hours’ and disappeared.

All of the shots in today’s post were captured during that introduction interval. Handheld snap shots, basically.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

A humble narrator has seen amazing things. A submarine’s nose being barged down the East River, while passing under Brooklyn Bridge. I’ve seen Cargo Ports and countless bridges, the Staten Island Ferry in dry dock, been onboard military ships, and even rode on a freight train, I’ve been inside/under/and all around the largest sewer plant in NYC and have also looked down into the drain that most of Manhattan’s toilet flush’s goes to. I’ve been inside the Manhattan Bridge, walked the Second Avenue Subway tunnel, and watched the Kosciuszcko Bridge be dissected and then blown up.

I seen some shit, but I ain’t never seen nothing like a steel plant, yo.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

We ended up in what seemed to be the main antechamber of Carrie, which was one level up from the ground. Everywhere you looked, there were flights of steel stairs and walkways. Pipes and conduits were absolutely flying all over the place. Rust was omnipresent.

The entire complex of relict machinery was functionally open to the environment. Freight rail was occasionally heard passing nearby, carrying raw material to the still functioning Edgar Thomson ‘Mon Valley Works’ steel mill which is probably about a mile/mile and a half away in Braddock. When you didn’t hear the rumble and clickity clack of passing rail, it was mainly birdsong and the chorus of insectivorous activity you’d associate with a riverfront meadow.

– photo by Mitch Waxman

This was the last handheld shot for the day. After this, I set the camera up in tripod mode and got busy. I didn’t do the lens filters thing at all, as it wasn’t required.

The shot above was from more or less at the core of the place, and the machinery at the left side is part of one of the actual furnaces.

Back tomorrow.

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