Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

A functioning workshop where historic steelmaking machinery is restored and operated as part of a living history exhibit on heavy industry in the Youngstown, Ohio area. The centerpiece of the collection is a 260 ton, 3,000 HP rolling mill steam engine that was built in Youngstown and powered a steel mill for sixty-five years. Outside of the museum, a narrow-gauge railroad demonstrates how railroads were used in the steelmaking process.

Images

The Tod Engine is a 3,000 HP rolling mill steam engine built and used in Youngstown.

Jones & Laughlin Steel 58, a narrow gauge steam locomotive that will operate at the museum.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Founded in 1993 as Jeannette Blast Furnace Preservation Association, Inc., the citizens of Youngstown sought to preserve their iconic landmark, Youngstown’s last standing blast furnace, for future generations. While failing in their initial goal, their efforts did manage to secure and successfully preserve the Tod Engine.

In 2003, Jeanette Blast Furnace Preservation Association, Inc. was disbanded, but all their properties were transferred over to the Tod Engine Foundation, which itself was re-named to its current title of Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum in 2009, to better reflect the organizations goal in preservation of the steel industry’s history.

As of this writing, the museum itself is not fully completed; however, an open house is held annually twice a year to allow interested tourists a chance to stop by see the dozens of artifacts and pieces of history already on display. Additionally, private visits can be arranged year-round by any party, be it small or large.

Primarily, the group’s goal is the construction and maintenance of a museum for future generations to get a better look at the steel industry. Other goals of this museum include recreating the experience of visiting an operational mill power house and providing a venue for hands-on steel and iron-making demonstrations. The museum has also amassed a significant collection of documents and artifacts related to the history of the steel industry. In the future, the organization also hopes to install an extensive archive and library related to the steel industry, which is to be built at the Hubbard Road facility. Anyone interested in the rich history of steel-work is encouraged to pay a visit.

Sources

About. Youngstown Steel Heritage. n d. Accessed September 27, 2018. http://www.hendersongdi.com/ysh/about.html.