Cleveland and the Steel Industry
1890s - 1920s
In the steel industry, the Bessemer process for transforming iron to steel was first used in the 1880s. Steel had infinitely more uses than cast or pig iron. Steel could be thinner, much stronger, more readily shaped, and considerably lighter. Coal and limestone were also necessary to make the coke that would fire the steel furnaces. The opening of the Mesabi Range in the 1870s added necessary quantity and quality of iron ore. Now all the resources for making steel were available in the Great Lakes region. Cleveland, having grown by leaps and bounds since the Ohio canal era, became a center for the early steel industry.
Why Cleveland? It was an almost natural location. Coal was shipped north along the canal and by rail. Since it required four tons of coal to make one ton of steel, coal was needed in greater quantities, and was also more expensive to transport. Smaller amounts of iron ore could be transported from north to south, and connect along the Lake Erie shore with the stock piles of coal. Thus, the opening of the Mesabi Range in Minnesota allowed the development of the steel industry to accelerate. This explains the growth of towns like Pittsburgh, Detroit and Cleveland, all situated near the coal-producing areas in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, and southern Ohio.
The growth of Cleveland's steel and manufacturing industries triggered a population explosion. Various ethnic groups from central, southern and eastern Europe immigrated to the United States and ultimately made their way to Cleveland. In the 1890s, ethnic neighborhoods grew up around the Cuyahoga River Valley steel production area. Foreign-born residents made up roughly 37% of Cleveland's population and included Polish, Italians, Germans, the Irish, and Hungarians.
To increase Lakes ships' carrying capacity in the late 1800s, Alexander McDougall invented the whaleback, sometimes whaleback vessels were called "Pig Boats" because of their distinctive snouts (bow). In ten years time, McDougall's company, the American Steel Barge Company (originally funded in part by John D. Rockefeller) built 46 vessels.
World War I appeared to have been the last hurrah for the ship building industry during the boom time of the 1890s - 1920s. For war purposes, the ship building facilities that ringed the Lakes turned their attention to building a military maritime fleet for the Federal government. Limited in size by the restrictions imposed by the Welland Canal, these ships could not exceed 261' length x 43'6" beam and 13' depth. Unfortunately, because of their size, these ships could not compete internationally when the War ended. Some operated in the inter-coastal trades, while others returned to operation on the Lakes.
This period also corresponded with the growth and development of great shipping empires. Names to remember are: Clevelander John D. Rockefeller (oil), Andrew Carnegie (steel), J.P. Morgan (banking), and Clevelander Marcus Hanna, called "the president-maker" since he helped put William McKinley in the White House. One of the first large fleets organized by a United States company was known as the Steel Trust Fleet, run by Pittsburgh Steamship Company of Cleveland. Begun in 1896, it was originally known as the Bessemer Steamship Company, but as it grew in size after the turn of the century it was reorganized. Other Cleveland fleets of note at this time were G.A. Tomlinson, the Cleveland and Buffalo lines, and of course, Cleveland-Cliffs.
During the 1920s, Cleveland became the sixth largest city in the United States with a population in excess of 800,000. As an industrial Midwest American city, Cleveland was a second only to Chicago. Cleveland's industries helped to shape the city's skyline as seen from the shore of Lake Erie. Today, many existing landmarks are products of Cleveland's golden years in the 1920s: Terminal Tower, Playhouse Square, and Cleveland's cultural institutions concentrated mostly in University Circle. A more recent landmark is the BP building, originally the Standard Oil Building, which was the Cleveland company founded by John D. Rockefeller.
Cyrus Eaton and many historians believe that Cleveland never recovered totally from the Great Depression. Unemployment rates in Cleveland peaked at 33%, significantly higher than the national average of 25%. Great Lakes shipping was severely affected. Several Great Lakes passenger lines folded. Few Lakes ships, freighter or passenger, were built.
Post-World War II prosperity stimulated the Lakes shipping industry. In the 1950s, the U.S. registry contained over 600 US-flagged ships. The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway project in 1959 expanded the Great Lakes system to a global level.
Did you know that the Port of Cleveland is closer to Europe than many East Coast American cities due to the St. Lawrence Seaway?