Jones & Laughlin Open hearth crew

While Jones and Laughlin started making steel in 1886, the company continued producing iron until around 1894, when all efforts turned to steel. The industry provided generations of Western Pennsylvanians with a livelihood that passed from one set of family members to the next. In the early 1900s, generations sometimes worked at the mill at the same time. As this image shows, children as well as men were employed before child labor laws banned such practices.