Gary Works

The Gary Works is a major steel mill in Gary, Indiana, on the shore of Lake Michigan. For many years, the Gary Works was the world's largest steel mill, and it remains the largest integrated mill in North America.[1] It is operated by the United States Steel Corporation.

Gary Works

Aerial view of the Gary Works in 1973
Built	1906 (1906)
Operated	28 June 1908 (1908-06-28)
Coordinates	41°36′26.1468″N 87°20′15.2664″W
Employees	5000 (2015)

The Gary Works includes both steelmaking and finishing facilities, and has an annual capacity of 7.5 million tons.[2] It contains four blast furnaces, three BOP vessels, and three Q-BOP vessels,[2] though one of the blast furnaces was idled in 2019.[3]

The Gary Works was under construction from 1906 to 1908, and the first shipment of iron ore was unloaded on June 23, 1908.[4] 11 million cubic feet (310,000 m³) of sand were moved in the process of constructing the plant.[5]

The Gary Works remains Gary's largest single employer and a key element of the city's tax base.[6] However, employment levels have fallen substantially since the mid-20th century; the plant and allied facilities employed over 30,000 people in the early 1970s, but only 6,000 in 1990,[7] and 5,000 in 2015.[8] The plant is also a central part of the city's geography; its main entrance is at the northern end of Broadway, the city's main thoroughfare.