Republic Steel's Thomas Works is fortunate to not only be a well preserved relic, but to have a surprising amount of historical documentation available online, as well as be in the hands of owners which care about it's preservation.
A remarkable amount of information about the Republic Steel works has been digitized and placed in the public domain at the US Library of Congress. A photographic survey of the site from 1992, diagrams and a lengthy description of the functions of the by-product works are all obtainable.1
Incidentally, some of the 1992 David Diesing photos at the Library of Congress are nearly the same view as mine. It is interesting to compare what has changed in the nearly two decades of time that has elapsed. Aside from the demolition of some unsafe structures (such as the stack of the boiler house in the summer of 2009),2 much of the physical structure remains the same with a pronounced attempt by nature to reclaim this brownfield site.
In the next article, some examples of new life being brought to this derelict industrial site will be detailed.
Coke ovens and pusher machine c.2009
Same view in 1992. (Public domain photo)
Pusher Machine Control Room c.2009
Pusher Machine Control Room c.1992 (Public domain photo)
By Product Plant Exhauster c.2009
By Product Plant Exhauster c.1992 (Public domain photo)
Benzoil plant exterior c.2009
Benzoil plant exterior c.1992 (Public domain photo)
1952 Coke Plant Diagram. (Public domain record)
Aerial View c.1992 (Public domain photo)
- Historic American Engineering Record. Thomas By-Product Coke Works. Retrieved from the Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/al0911
- Poe T. Email communication. December 2009.