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Through the Lens (Coal into Coke) Part 10

By Chuck Clegg - | Jun 22, 2022

WC Leetina Coke Ovens

Last fall Mary and I went for a trip researching a story I am working on. Along the way we stopped in Rogers, Ohio at the flea market. The market was packed with people wanting to get out on a nice fall afternoon. We were on a mission to purchase fresh vegetables at the market.

Next, we went on to Leetonia, Ohio. It is located a few miles north of Rogers. My purpose in going there was to fill my love of history and to do research for this story. Following the lady’s voice in my GPS, we found our way to the small neatly kept community. I need a GPS because I think I sometimes can get lost in a cul-de-sack. The eight miles trip is through rolling farm country. Fields of dairy cattle, drying rows of corn and pumpkins in bright orange can be seen along the way.

After arriving in Leetonia, we quickly found the purpose for our trip, a community park with historical coke ovens. Over one hundred years ago, these ovens were in use to convert raw coal into coke for the steel industry. Today they are a silent reminder of a time when our country was a leader in both industries.

The United States has the largest estimated coal reserves in the world. How long will that resource last? Estimates range worldwide from one hundred to 400 years. The largest percentage of coal usage is in the creation of electrical power. Coal used in power generation is not processed to remove impurities prior to burning. Most of the impurities are removed in the exhaust stream after burning. Next, coal used in the metals industry. But that coal needs to be high grade and processed into coke. Coke results from a process of heating coal to a temperature of 2000 degrees in sealed kiln or oven without oxygen. Coke is primarily made of carbon. Cooking coal in a high temperature furnace removes impurities such as small amounts of nitrogen, sulfur and hydrogen. The percentage of these impurities depends on the quality of the coal.

At one time in the tristate area there were thousands of beehive coke ovens. These ovens operated around the clock producing coke needed for the valleys many metal plants. An endless supply was needed to process iron ore into pig iron. Once ore is rendered into iron, it needs to be further processed in a steel works to adjust the carbon content and add alloys to make high grade steel.

At the beginning of the 20th century, America was becoming a leader in industrial growth. Steel played a large part in the process. The coke ovens in Leetonia supplied high grade coke to the Cherry Valley Iron Works and the Salem Iron works. These plants and ovens were constructed around 1870. They continued in operation until the great Depression in 1930.

At the height of the coke production, two hundred ovens were in operations around the clock. Today visitors can see many of those brick ovens preserved for the future. The iron works factories have long ago been removed.

The Leetonia iron works and ovens were victims of economic changes in the times. That change that began in the mid-century has been on going. At one time the area because of the high quality coal reserves was at the heart of the steel industry. Here in the Ohio Valley, steel mills, iron works, coal, limestone, clay mines, and coke works could be found all the way from Moundsville up the Ohio Valley to Pittsburg and then up both the Allegany and Monongahela Rivers. At one time mills extended seventeen miles past Pittsburg. Today few remain. By my estimate at one time over 400,000 workers operated these many different plants and mines along with associated businesses. Today that number is by my estimate less than 20,000 and declining more every year.

Recently in the news it was announced by Cleveland Cliffs Inc., owners of the Follansbee Mountaineer Coke and Carbon Plant, the operations would shut down in the second quarter of the year. The plant has been in operations since 1917. Over the past century the plant has produce such large amounts of coke that the total tonnage would be impossible for me to calculate. But I do know that each ton of coke produced, helped to produce steel to build our country.

The Leetonia ovens went cold because of the depression. Follansbee coke batteries are going cold because America recycles much of it steel. And steel imports have challenged the economics of American made steel.

Like in Leetonia in the 1930s, Follansbee will suffer from the loss of jobs and revenue. Hundreds of families will relocate to find work or simply retire. The closing of the plant will not be noticed in the big scheme of things. The national news will not likely pick up the story. Local news programs will run a two minute segment on the closing. Newspapers will headline the event one time. The next day they will move on to the next news cycle of the European War or Covid news. But, for the men, women and families of Follansbee, the pain of seeing the shuttered coke works will be an ever present reminder of prosperity and times gone by. Perhaps the only possibility would be to make the coke ovens into a tourist attraction, much like Leetonia has and the Carrie Iron Works did in Swissdale.

In this small way, future generations can know that at one time their community was strong in the growth of the country. That men and women worked in the plant building lives for themselves and their families.

The ancient coke ovens in Leetonia are not showy, nor are their concession stands nearby with souvenirs. And the Carrie Iron Furnaces are standing monuments to a time now gone by. But still, they are real pieces of industrial history, preserved by dedicated people wanting to ensure that future generations will know how America was built with iron ore and manpower. They have done a good thing for our industrial heritage.

But none of this would have been possible without coal and the miners who ventured into the darkness. These industrial relics of the past, once helped built this country into a world leader. The question today, where will we be in another fifty years? Heavy industry is disappearing and retail is now becoming the leader in providing jobs. Those good jobs in hard industry are disappearing along with the good wages. Where will we be in fifty years, I don’t know. But the life I have is in part created by coal and the benefits it has given me.

This summer if you would like to take a day trip and see a bit of history, think about visiting Leetonia, Ohio, Beehive Coke Works. Or travel to the Carrie Furnace Iron Works in Pennsylvania. Take your children along, or grandchildren. Show them what made America great: Through the Lens.