The construction of several open hearth furnaces, a bar mill, and a 800 ton hammer made it possible for all the stages of the Tin Mill production process from raw material to final product be done under one roof. Following the introduction of what was called the “Hammered Process,” tin and steel products produced in the city became know nationally under the trade name “Follansbee Forge.” “These included automobile and electrical steel sheets, black, blue, polished and full finished steel sheets, tin plates, roofing plate and long terne sheets. They [were] used for a great variety of purposes.” Longtime Follansbee resident Gerald “Peck” Blakley remembered that the booming sound of the hammer resonated through the entire city.
The long lasting legacy of the Tin Mill became engraved in the names of Follansbee’s High School publications. The name of the newspaper, the Ingot, comes from the ingot copper used at the mill. And the yearbook, called Forge, was named after the high quality steel sheets and tin plate marketed as “Follansbee Forge.”
- The Pittsburgh Press, Mar 4, 1928
- http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19280304&id=EPoaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L0oEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5970,2420291
