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The Pumphouse as a Historic Site In 1999, the Pump House-- site of the "Battle of Homestead," where workers and townspeople repulsed a force of Pinkerton detectives on July 6, 1892-- is the only structure remaining from the Homestead Works of July 1892. In its heyday, this "flagship" plant of US Steel-- probably the most famous steel mill in the world-- embraced some 300 acres and three miles of riverfront. during World War II, it employs over 20,000 workers. The site is now a "greenfield," being redeveloped.
The Pump House is a dramatic location that lends itself well to commemorative use. Set at the river's edge, it commands a view of a huge bend in the Monongahela River: across the river are wooded hills; just downstream is the Pemickey Bridge, under which the Pinkertons approached in the early morning hours of July 6, 1892; upstream, several hundred yards east, are the Carrie blast furnaces-- rusting monuments that may yet be saved as industrial landmarks. A half mile away, back across the flood plain, is the town of Homestead. Much has changed in 100 years, but the geography of the site remains-- and the Pump House. An appropriate monument to labor's history in Western Pennsylvania-- and in America.
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