The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum, to be located in Coatesville Pennsylvania, aims to fill this void. From its humble beginnings as the birthplace of Lukens Steel to its current status as the location of one of the oldest operating steel mills in the country, there is no better location for visitors to experience the U.S. steel industry than Coatesville Pennsylvania.
The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum will immerse visitors in the iron and steel-making story through the latest in both indoor and outdoor interpretive experiences and techniques, the Museum will bring the story alive in a way that will be both educational and entertaining. The National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum will offer three distinct viewpoints of the U.S. steel industry. First, the fascinating story of Rebecca Lukens — one of the first and only women to own and operate a U.S. Steel Company. Second, a detailed glimpse of the U.S. steel industry from its beginning to its present status, including ArcelorMittal’s plate facility right next door. And lastly, an education-based research and development program that will focus on cutting edge technologies and continuing education to help maintain the steel industry in America for decades to come.
The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum will create an important regional cultural resource and tourism destination that will play a vital role in the revitalization efforts as it will drive economic development in and around Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Increased tourism revenue, new jobs, increased land values in Coatesville’s downtown and historic district, and new intellectual assets stemming from an education and technology program focused on the future of steel will all combine to form an economic engine in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum will provide a much-needed home for 450 tons of World Trade Center steel. Originally manufactured at Lukens Steel in the late 1960’s, these nine forked-steel beams (known as tridents) were part of the soaring lobby of the North Tower. The “sisters” were brought back to Coatesville, PA, the home of their birth, in a 26–truck processional in April of 2010.
The Value-Added of the National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum
- It will preserve and interpret one of America’s and Pennsylvania’s great stories of enterprise and innovation
- It will give residents of Coatesville a renewed sense of pride in their individual and collective role in this important story
- It will impact educational partnerships with local schools using the story of iron and steel as the focus of innovative, experiential, curriculum-driven school programs focused on math-science and social studies
- It will create a new regional venue that will be the center of many community based programs.
- It will create a powerful cultural tourism attraction that will contribute significant economic benefits to the Coatesville, Chester County, and Pennsylvania
