Trumbull Steel Company

The story of steel in Trumbull County started with the Trumbull Steel Company. It opened on the west side of Warren in 1913. This location was convenient because it was close to the Pennsylvania and Baltimore& Ohio Railroads, giving easy access to much needed transportation. The mill was opened by Jonathan Warner and W.H.B. Ward after the board of trade offered them a free factory site. Along with the location of iron ore from the Great Lakes and the coal deposits in Pennsylvania, Trumbull Steel was set up for success.

At the height of their success, Trumbull Steel Company employed between 7,000-9,000 people, making it the largest employer in Warren. In fact, the mill workers eventually built up their own neighborhood that became known as "the Flats". This community was largely made up of immigrant families that worked at the mill or other manufacturing businesses in the area. Once the mills started closing, families started moving to other neighborhoods in the area, leaving vacant houses. This coupled with a major flood in 1959 and Federal urban renewal legislation lead to the razing of the Flats neighborhoods well as portions of downtown Warren.

Part of the supply for iron came from the Trumbull Cliffs Blast Furnace. It was build in 1921, quickly becoming an iconic part of the Warren skyline. Trumbull Steel Company and Trumbull Cliffs Iron Company eventually merged, and became part of Republic Steel in 1928. The blast furnace was massive, putting out 600 tons of iron in 24 hours. In 1939, it was expanded, making it the largest blast furnace in the world at that time. In fact, it broke the world record for production of iron in a 24 hour period in 1943 during WWII. The blast furnace was demolished in 2017.

As the Warren mill was now under the control of Youngstown-based Republic Steel, the union workers were also part of the 1937 Little Steel Strike that affected Republic Steel, Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and Inland Steel. Because the Warren mill was still open using non-union workers, tensions were high, and on June 24, 1937 two bombs exploded at the Warren mill. The first bomb damaged a bridge near the mill, and the second nearly hit a car carrying National Guardsmen. 8 men were arrested as suspects within a month, and all but Gus Hall pleaded guilty to illegal possession and control of explosives. Hall later pleaded guilty to malicious destruction of property.

After World War II, the steel mills still held on, although they were not producing nearly as much steel. But slowly, the demand for steel decreased as higher wages, foreign steel, and new environmental codes were put into place. As is the story with many mills in the Rust Belt, Trumbull Steel closed its doors in 2012. The mill was demolished in 2014 and the blast furnace in 2017. Although it is closed, the impact of Trumbull Steel cannot be overstated. Ask just about anyone in Warren, and they will have at least a memory about the mill and the people that worked there.

Fleischer, Richard K.. Trumbull Cliffs Blast Furnace , Trumbull County Historical Society . Accessed February 10th 2021. https://trumbullcountyhistory.com/trumbull-cliffs-blast-furnace/.

Fleischer, Richard K. . Trumbull Steel Company , Trumbull County Historical Society . Accessed February 10th 2021. https://trumbullcountyhistory.com/trumbull-steel-company/.

Nativio, Josh . Reed, Meghan. Images of America Warren . Charleston, North Carolina. Arcadia Publishing, 2019.

Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor. Little Steel Strike Bombing Suspects Mug Shot Photographs, Ohio Memory Collection . Accessed February 10th 2021. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p267401coll36/id/13251.