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Zug Island
Zug Island is a heavily industrialized island within the city of River Rouge at the southern city limits of Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located where the mouth of the River Rouge spills into the Detroit River. Zug Island is not a natural island in the river; it was formed when a shipping canal was dug along the southwestern side of the island, allowing ships to bypass several hundred yards of twisting waterway near the mouth of the natural course of the lowest portions of the River Rouge.
Originally a marsh-filled peninsula at the mouth of the River Rouge, the territory now known as Zug Island served as an uninhabited Native American burial ground for thousands of years. Upon European arrival, the land was incorporated into Ecorse Township, making up the very northeast corner of the township. The beginning of interest in developing the land came when Samuel Zug, one of the founders of the Republican Party and a staunch abolitionist, came to Detroit from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1836 to make his fortune in the furniture industry with the money he earned as a bookkeeper. Shortly after, Marcus Stevenson, a Detroit financier, went into business with him.
The Stevenson & Zug Furniture Company flourished until 1859 when Samuel Zug, by then a rich man, dissolved the partnership. He decided to invest in real estate to provide security for his wife, Anna. Envisioning a luxurious estate on the Detroit River, Zug bought 325 acres (1.32 km2) of marshy land below Fort Wayne from the town of Delray in 1876. But the dampness was too much for the Zugs, and after 10 years they abandoned their home.
In 1888, Zug allowed the River Rouge Improvement Company to cut a small canal through the south section of his property to more directly connect the Rouge River to the Detroit River. This Short Cut Canal, as it came to be known, was enlarged in the early 1920s by Henry Ford to allow large ships to more easily navigate to the Ford River Rouge Complex. In 1891, Zug completed the largest real estate transaction of the decade[among whom?]: he sold his island for $300,000 ($10.5 million in 2024) to industries that wanted it as a dumping ground.
Zug became interested in politics and served as Wayne County Auditor under Gov. John J. Bagley. He died in 1896 when he was 80.
The Detroit Iron & Steel Co. brought ironmaking to Zug Island with the construction of a blast furnace in 1902. In 1904 the works was purchased by the M.A. Hanna Company of Cleveland, Ohio, which built a second blast furnace in 1909. At this time the island's two furnaces were reportedly the largest of their kind in the world, producing pig iron for foundry companies. The plant expanded and became part of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation in late 1931, becoming a key component of a fully integrated steel mill and a division of the larger National Steel Corporation. A third blast furnace was added in early 1938 while the existing furnaces were rebuilt and enlarged.
When National Steel became insolvent in 2003 most of the island's steel facilities were purchased, along with the rest of what is now called the Great Lakes Works, by United States Steel, which currently operates the mill. The island is home to the mill's ironmaking facilities (the rest of the mill's facilities, primarily steelmaking and processing, are located at the main plant a few miles south in the city of Ecorse) which includes 3 blast furnaces ("A", "B" and "D") and raw materials storage areas. Ships supply large ore docks along the north ("1 Dock") and east ("3 Dock") shores of the island and large coal/coke/ore storage fields along the south and west ("B Area") shores. Number 5 Coke Battery located there, once an integral part of the mill, is independently owned and operated by EES Coke LLC, a DTE Energy company. Delray Connecting Railroad, a subsidiary of Transtar, LLC, also operates some rail facilities on the island. A "2-way" vehicle/rail bridge is the main access to the island. Secondary vehicle and rail bridges (the "Swing Bridge") at the southwestern corner of the island also allow mainland access.
Iron produced at Zug Island was transported in bottle cars via rail to steelmaking at the main plant while DTE's coke is shipped via rail to supply consumers, chiefly ISG/Mittal, in the merchant metallurgical market. During the industry's peak, thousands of workers were employed on the island with a large percentage of the downriver community supported by the local steel producer. Recently a few hundred people worked on the island with the hourly workers at U.S. Steel represented by United Steelworkers Local 1299. In fall of 2008 U.S. Steel halted its production due to the economic downturn, but restarted it in fall of 2009.
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Zug Island
Zug Island is a heavily industrialized island within the city of River Rouge at the southern city limits of Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located where the mouth of the River Rouge spills into the Detroit River. Zug Island is not a natural island in the river; it was formed when a shipping canal was dug along the southwestern side of the island, allowing ships to bypass several hundred yards of twisting waterway near the mouth of the natural course of the lowest portions of the River Rouge.
Originally a marsh-filled peninsula at the mouth of the River Rouge, the territory now known as Zug Island served as an uninhabited Native American burial ground for thousands of years. Upon European arrival, the land was incorporated into Ecorse Township, making up the very northeast corner of the township. The beginning of interest in developing the land came when Samuel Zug, one of the founders of the Republican Party and a staunch abolitionist, came to Detroit from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1836 to make his fortune in the furniture industry with the money he earned as a bookkeeper. Shortly after, Marcus Stevenson, a Detroit financier, went into business with him.
The Stevenson & Zug Furniture Company flourished until 1859 when Samuel Zug, by then a rich man, dissolved the partnership. He decided to invest in real estate to provide security for his wife, Anna. Envisioning a luxurious estate on the Detroit River, Zug bought 325 acres (1.32 km2) of marshy land below Fort Wayne from the town of Delray in 1876. But the dampness was too much for the Zugs, and after 10 years they abandoned their home.
In 1888, Zug allowed the River Rouge Improvement Company to cut a small canal through the south section of his property to more directly connect the Rouge River to the Detroit River. This Short Cut Canal, as it came to be known, was enlarged in the early 1920s by Henry Ford to allow large ships to more easily navigate to the Ford River Rouge Complex. In 1891, Zug completed the largest real estate transaction of the decade[among whom?]: he sold his island for $300,000 ($10.5 million in 2024) to industries that wanted it as a dumping ground.
Zug became interested in politics and served as Wayne County Auditor under Gov. John J. Bagley. He died in 1896 when he was 80.
The Detroit Iron & Steel Co. brought ironmaking to Zug Island with the construction of a blast furnace in 1902. In 1904 the works was purchased by the M.A. Hanna Company of Cleveland, Ohio, which built a second blast furnace in 1909. At this time the island's two furnaces were reportedly the largest of their kind in the world, producing pig iron for foundry companies. The plant expanded and became part of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation in late 1931, becoming a key component of a fully integrated steel mill and a division of the larger National Steel Corporation. A third blast furnace was added in early 1938 while the existing furnaces were rebuilt and enlarged.
When National Steel became insolvent in 2003 most of the island's steel facilities were purchased, along with the rest of what is now called the Great Lakes Works, by United States Steel, which currently operates the mill. The island is home to the mill's ironmaking facilities (the rest of the mill's facilities, primarily steelmaking and processing, are located at the main plant a few miles south in the city of Ecorse) which includes 3 blast furnaces ("A", "B" and "D") and raw materials storage areas. Ships supply large ore docks along the north ("1 Dock") and east ("3 Dock") shores of the island and large coal/coke/ore storage fields along the south and west ("B Area") shores. Number 5 Coke Battery located there, once an integral part of the mill, is independently owned and operated by EES Coke LLC, a DTE Energy company. Delray Connecting Railroad, a subsidiary of Transtar, LLC, also operates some rail facilities on the island. A "2-way" vehicle/rail bridge is the main access to the island. Secondary vehicle and rail bridges (the "Swing Bridge") at the southwestern corner of the island also allow mainland access.
Iron produced at Zug Island was transported in bottle cars via rail to steelmaking at the main plant while DTE's coke is shipped via rail to supply consumers, chiefly ISG/Mittal, in the merchant metallurgical market. During the industry's peak, thousands of workers were employed on the island with a large percentage of the downriver community supported by the local steel producer. Recently a few hundred people worked on the island with the hourly workers at U.S. Steel represented by United Steelworkers Local 1299. In fall of 2008 U.S. Steel halted its production due to the economic downturn, but restarted it in fall of 2009.
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