After the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last March, Tradepoint Atlantic employees in Sparrows Point were tasked with receiving debris and dividing it into manageable pieces before being driven to a recycling center.
But before Sparrows Point accepted the responsibility of cleaning up Baltimore’s most recent infrastructural disaster, the community southeast of Baltimore’s city limits was once a bustling manufacturing site. It produced alloys under powerhouse companies like Bethlehem Steel, earning the nickname the “Beast of the East.” The site then fell into disrepair as a ghost town, until its revitalization by Tradepoint Atlantic.
Here’s a look at that history, rooted in over a century of industrial and economic evolution.
1887–1892: Sparrows Point is founded as a hub for steelmaking
Amid the ongoing industrialization of the US, the railroad industry was laying tracks, revolutionizing efficiency and productivity.
In 1887, as it supplied railroad material, Pennsylvania Steel sent agents to find a location for a mill. The company found Sparrows Point ideal due to the land’s accessibility to deep water for shipping and the nearby rail lines for necessary imports in manufacturing steel. Pennsylvania Steel created the subsidiary Maryland Steel Company to oversee and operate the mill and shipyard.
