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Chester Rolling Mill
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Chester Rolling Mill
The Chester Rolling Mill was a large iron (later steel) rolling mill established by shipbuilder John Roach in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1873. The main purpose of the Mill was to provide metal hull plates, beams and other parts for the ships built at Roach's Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, also located at Chester.
Amongst the mill's notable achievements, it manufactured the steel plates for the first steel-hulled steamship built in the United States, Alaskan, and for the U.S. Navy's first four steel ships, the so-called "ABCD ships". Production of the latter vessels drove Roach's shipbuilding empire into receivership after the government unexpectedly repudiated the contracts, and Roach was forced to sell the Chester Rolling Mill and most of his other companies to satisfy creditors. The Chester Rolling Mill later became part of the Wellman Steel Company.
Roach established his shipyard, the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, on the Delaware River at Chester in 1871. He had two reasons for establishing the Chester Rolling Mill. Firstly, the locality of Chester lacked facilities for the large-scale production of iron plates and frames as required by his shipyard. Secondly, by establishing his own rolling mill, he could dispense with ironmaking subcontractors and thus reduce his overall costs. Roach's ownership of a network of companies supporting his shipyard, which included the Chester Rolling Mill, the Chester Pipe and Tube Company and later the Standard Steel Casting Company and the Combination Steel and Iron Company made John Roach & Sons one of the first large companies in the United States to adopt the vertical integration model.
The Chester Rolling Mill was incorporated with a capital of $300,000 on March 10, 1875 by John Roach and a number of partners including Roach's sons John B. and Garrett, and local Chester business identities John Q. Denny and Charles B. and David Houston. The elder Roach became President of the new company, and Charles and David Houston were made general manager and paymaster respectively, while their brother Thomas also received a management position. Roach and his sons held the majority of shares.
The connection with the Houston family was of particular importance to Roach as the Houstons had investments in Pennsylvanian iron and coal mines, virtually guaranteeing the new company a reliable supply of raw materials. The Houstons also controlled Chester's only newspaper, the Chester Times, and they in turn shared business interests with Samuel A. Crozer, whose extended family—the wealthiest in Chester—owned the city's largest textile mills. Collectively, the Roach, Houston and Crozer families employed 25% of Chester's working population and accounted for 35% of its payroll, their partnership ensuring dominance of the city's politics.
The Chester Rolling Mill was established on the site of an old bridge and steel works at the foot of Wilson and Hayes Sts., Chester, incorporating the area between Townsend to Highland Ave., and from Front St. to the Delaware River. Construction of the main rolling mill, a building with dimensions of 160 x 185 feet, began in 1875. In 1879, the building was doubled in size, from 160 to 320 feet. Initial output was 700 tons of pig iron and 300 tons of iron ship plate. Pig iron, beams, and hull and boiler plates were produced both for Roach's main shipyard in Chester and for his other shipbuilding facility, the Morgan Iron Works in New York City.
With the establishment of the Mill, Roach was able to introduce a number of innovations into the industry which reduced time and cut costs. To begin with, he rejected the standard ship plate size of 12 ft × 4 ft (3.7 m × 1.2 m) and rolled larger plates of 14 ft × 5 ft (4.3 m × 1.5 m). This simple innovation reduced the time spent in planing, punching and chipping plates by 40%, reduced handling times, and had the added advantage of producing a stronger ship with fewer butts to strain. Roach also endeavoured as far as possible to roll plates to their finished dimensions, saving time which other companies spent on reworking plates at the shipyard.
In 1880, Roach embarked on a substantial upgrade of the mill's facilities. A second blast furnace was constructed above the original rolling mill, along with new buildings covering about 1+1⁄4 acres, including a new 90 ft × 140 ft (27 m × 43 m) steelworks. The new furnace commenced production on November 1, 1881. In order to pay for the expansion, the firm was recapitalized at $600,000.
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Chester Rolling Mill
The Chester Rolling Mill was a large iron (later steel) rolling mill established by shipbuilder John Roach in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1873. The main purpose of the Mill was to provide metal hull plates, beams and other parts for the ships built at Roach's Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, also located at Chester.
Amongst the mill's notable achievements, it manufactured the steel plates for the first steel-hulled steamship built in the United States, Alaskan, and for the U.S. Navy's first four steel ships, the so-called "ABCD ships". Production of the latter vessels drove Roach's shipbuilding empire into receivership after the government unexpectedly repudiated the contracts, and Roach was forced to sell the Chester Rolling Mill and most of his other companies to satisfy creditors. The Chester Rolling Mill later became part of the Wellman Steel Company.
Roach established his shipyard, the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, on the Delaware River at Chester in 1871. He had two reasons for establishing the Chester Rolling Mill. Firstly, the locality of Chester lacked facilities for the large-scale production of iron plates and frames as required by his shipyard. Secondly, by establishing his own rolling mill, he could dispense with ironmaking subcontractors and thus reduce his overall costs. Roach's ownership of a network of companies supporting his shipyard, which included the Chester Rolling Mill, the Chester Pipe and Tube Company and later the Standard Steel Casting Company and the Combination Steel and Iron Company made John Roach & Sons one of the first large companies in the United States to adopt the vertical integration model.
The Chester Rolling Mill was incorporated with a capital of $300,000 on March 10, 1875 by John Roach and a number of partners including Roach's sons John B. and Garrett, and local Chester business identities John Q. Denny and Charles B. and David Houston. The elder Roach became President of the new company, and Charles and David Houston were made general manager and paymaster respectively, while their brother Thomas also received a management position. Roach and his sons held the majority of shares.
The connection with the Houston family was of particular importance to Roach as the Houstons had investments in Pennsylvanian iron and coal mines, virtually guaranteeing the new company a reliable supply of raw materials. The Houstons also controlled Chester's only newspaper, the Chester Times, and they in turn shared business interests with Samuel A. Crozer, whose extended family—the wealthiest in Chester—owned the city's largest textile mills. Collectively, the Roach, Houston and Crozer families employed 25% of Chester's working population and accounted for 35% of its payroll, their partnership ensuring dominance of the city's politics.
The Chester Rolling Mill was established on the site of an old bridge and steel works at the foot of Wilson and Hayes Sts., Chester, incorporating the area between Townsend to Highland Ave., and from Front St. to the Delaware River. Construction of the main rolling mill, a building with dimensions of 160 x 185 feet, began in 1875. In 1879, the building was doubled in size, from 160 to 320 feet. Initial output was 700 tons of pig iron and 300 tons of iron ship plate. Pig iron, beams, and hull and boiler plates were produced both for Roach's main shipyard in Chester and for his other shipbuilding facility, the Morgan Iron Works in New York City.
With the establishment of the Mill, Roach was able to introduce a number of innovations into the industry which reduced time and cut costs. To begin with, he rejected the standard ship plate size of 12 ft × 4 ft (3.7 m × 1.2 m) and rolled larger plates of 14 ft × 5 ft (4.3 m × 1.5 m). This simple innovation reduced the time spent in planing, punching and chipping plates by 40%, reduced handling times, and had the added advantage of producing a stronger ship with fewer butts to strain. Roach also endeavoured as far as possible to roll plates to their finished dimensions, saving time which other companies spent on reworking plates at the shipyard.
In 1880, Roach embarked on a substantial upgrade of the mill's facilities. A second blast furnace was constructed above the original rolling mill, along with new buildings covering about 1+1⁄4 acres, including a new 90 ft × 140 ft (27 m × 43 m) steelworks. The new furnace commenced production on November 1, 1881. In order to pay for the expansion, the firm was recapitalized at $600,000.