Weirton Steel Mill – Weirton, West Virginia

Now we return to the Rust Belt, this time taking in an abandoned steel mill in West Virginia that was once owned by the Weirton Steel Corporation. The company was, at one time, the largest private employer and biggest taxpayer in the state. As well producing as steel, the mill also carried out tinplating and is still one of the country’s primary tinplate makers.

The old Weirton Steel Mill is just across from Steubenville and the Wheeling-Pitt Mill we saw earlier, with the two sites separated by the Ohio River. In 1793, the future town of Weirton was established as a small village called Holliday’s Cove, but after the Weirton Steel Mill was built, a larger settlement established itself around the plant. At one time, there were more than 12,000 people working at the mill. These days, though, most of it is out of use, with only the tinplating section still in operation.