June 30, 2003 - U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14) announced today that the National Park Service is recommending that a National Historic Site be established in Homestead and Munhall to preserve important artifacts from our country’s steel industry. In a study released to the public today, the National Park Service recommended that the Battle of Homestead site, Carrie Furnaces 6 and 7, and other related sites be preserved in a National Historic Site.

“Pittsburgh is known world-wide as the steel city,” Congressman Doyle said today. It is critical that we act before it is too late to preserve these important artifacts of the industry that made our region great.”

The story of U.S. Steel’s Homestead Works continues to attract worldwide interest for its significance in both industrial and labor history. Carrie Furnaces 6 and 7 are sites of national historical significance. They are rare examples of early production techniques and turn-of-the-century technological advances. The pump house at the Homestead Works was the site of the Battle of Homestead in 1892, in which steelworkers and townspeople repulsed a force of Pinkerton detectives sent to break their strike. This battle stands as one of the most compelling stories in the long history of the labor movement in the United States.

“For nearly a decade I have been working with Auggie Carlino and the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation to preserve the Battle of Homestead site, Carrie Furnaces 6 and 7, and the history of those who toiled there,” Doyle said. “Today, in this Special Resources Study, the NPS recognizes the historical significance of these sites and recommends that they be preserved, in a National Historic Site, for future generations.”

“I have introduced legislation in Congress to establish a Steel Heritage National Historic Site here,” Congressman Doyle noted. “This study will be helpful in making the case for National Historic Site status. I am optimistic that Congress will enact legislation establishing the Steel Heritage National Historic Site in the current Congress, and I will be working hard to achieve that goal. Once approved by Congress, National Historical Site designation will bring the benefits of increased local and national recognition, greater visitor appeal and potentials for tourism, and-most importantly-a guarantee that these invaluable historical treasures will be protected.”

“The Steel Industry Heritage Corporation is very supportive of having these landmarks designated as a historic site, and it has been working with my office, the property owner, the community, and the National Park Service to see this goal through to completion,” Doyle explained. “Today’s report brings us one step closer to the certainty that the remarkable history of the Homestead Works will be remembered for generations to come.