Middletown: The Steel City

Located in the Mid-Miami River valley of southwestern Ohio, Middletown was perfectly situated by five major railway lines and a canal, enabling it to play a leading role in the steel industry that flourished throughout much of the 20th century. This book recounts one hundred years of steel-making in Middletown, and defines the cooperative alliance between the city and the American Rolling Mill Company, which employed roughly half of the workers in the metropolitan area at its peak. George M. Verity incorporated his then-small company in Middletown on December 27, 1899. It rapidly grew into the country’s largest employer, and was the first in the country to set up a separate research division. This foresight led to many improvements within the industry, and also resulted in the development of the first continuous rolling mill in 1924, considered by many to be one of the ten greatest industrial inventions of the 20th century. The relationship between the steel industry and the workers in Middletown was so harmonious that in 1958, the city earned the national award of an All-America City.