Guide to Records of Copperweld Steel Company,1915-1977
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Records of Copperweld Steel Company
- Creator
- Copperweld Steel Co. (Pittsburgh, PA)
- Collection Number
- MSS#41
- Extent
- 1 cubic feet (2 boxes)
- Date
- 1915-1977
- Abstract
- The Copperweld Steel Company, founded as the Copper Clad Steel Company, began manufacturing copper-covered steel wire in 1915 in Rankin, Pennsylvania. These records include the correspondence, reports, patent papers, contracts, product information bulletins and miscellaneous agreements of the Copperweld Steel Company from 1915-1977. While this rather eclectic mixture of materials is not comprehensive, it does document a form of specialty steel making in the twentieth century.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
Historical Sketch
The Copperweld Steel Company, founded as the Copper Clad Steel Company, began manufacturing copper-covered steel wire in 1915 in Rankin, Pennsylvania. The market for this unique product was quite small at first because of the low electrical conductibility in treated copper wire. Jacob Roth, one of the original investors in the company, patented a process of welding copper to steel whereby the conductibility loss was only 2% (compared to up to 60% in previous processes). Copperweld's wire became the standard for electrical cable and telephone wire used in the United States.
Ironically, a lightning strike destroyed a large portion of the Rankin facility in 1923. By 1927, Copperweld opened a new plant in Glassport, Pennsylvania, ten miles up the Monongahela River from Rankin. The 1930s brought a drastic drop in sales, but the company was saved from liquidation when the Rural Electrification Program selected Copperweld wire for its long-span construction project. World War II also improved sales at Copperweld. The Signal Corps demanded miles of wire cable to keep communication lines running smoothly all over Europe.
In 1959, with sales tripling the 1933 mark, the company acquired a manufacturing site at Warren, Ohio for the construction of an alloy steel plant whose product would be used in the Glassport factories and mills.
The company acquired the Ohio Seamless Tube Company located in Shelby, Ohio, in 1952 expanding its product line significantly. Over the next few decades Copperweld began a retrenchment of its activities in the Pittsburgh area. This fact was evident by its opening of international trade offices in Warren, Ohio, in1953, along with the construction of a second tube plant in Shelby, Ohio, in 1978. Finally,in 1987, Copperweld permanently removed its world headquarters from Glassport to Warren.
Scope and Content Notes
These records include the correspondence, reports, patent papers, contracts, product information bulletins and miscellaneous agreements of the Copperweld Steel Company from 1915-1977. While this rather eclectic mixture of materials is not comprehensive, it does document a form of specialty steel making in the twentieth century. Some of these documents are company copies, such as the patents and agreements, but others are original manuscripts, including Jacob Roth's secret welding process formula. The annual reports provide a well organized overview of the company's goals and production techniques. The programs are from a variety of events held outside Glassport, Pennsylvania.
Arrangement
The Copperweld Steel Company records are housed in two archival boxes and arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acc# 1990.84
Gift of Copperweld Steel Company 1990
Preferred Citation
Records of Copperweld Steel Company, 1915-1977, MSS #41, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Stephen Doellon July 7, 1993.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Jennifer MarshallinFebruary 1999.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Subjects
- Alumoweld Corporation
- Ohio Seamless Tube
- Bramer, S. E.
- Brewer, Thomas
- Gibason, S. L.
- Kaplan, F. R. S.
- Loeb, Simon
- Roth, Jacob
- Smith, William, Sr.
- Allegheny County (Pa.) -- Industry
- Glassport (Pa.) -- Industry
- Rankin (Pa.) -- Industry
- Shelby (Ohio) -- Industry
- Warren (Ohio) -- Industry
- Copper industry and trade -- Pennsylvania
- Steel industry and trade -- Pennsylvania
- Steel wire industry -- Pennsylvania