The Oliver Iron and Steel Corporation was a manufacturer of iron and steel hardware including nuts, bolts, screws, and horseshoes in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

History

The company was originally Oliver Brothers and Phillips after the Oliver Brothers concern merged with the Phillips Iron Works, later Oliver Iron and Steel Company before becoming Oliver Iron and Steel Corporation in 1922. In its early times

Henry W. Oliver Henry W. Oliver (February 25, 1840 – February 8, 1904) was an American industrialist. Biography Henry W. Oliver was born in Ireland in 1840. Two years later his family settled in Pittsburgh. Oliver began working at the age of thirteen as ...

was president of the company. The company controlled the

Allegheny and South Side Railway The Allegheny and South Side Railway is an historic railroad that operated in Pennsylvania. It was incorporated on September 20, 1892, to build from the city of Allegheny to the South Side of Pittsburgh, with a stated distance of 12 miles; A br ...

by stock ownership. Until 1897, the Lower Works at Woods Run in the city of Allegheny (now Pittsburgh's North Side) included rolling mills. In that year, the Schoen Pressed Steel Company bought the Lower Works. The Upper Works, in the South Side, made hardware from iron and steel. In 1923, the Pittsburgh city council approved city ordinance no. 205, granting the company, "its successors and assigns, the right to construct, maintain and use an overhead skip hoist across south Twelfth street with an approximate clearance of 14' for the purpose of conveying iron and steel products from the building of said corporation situated on the east side of South Twelfth street to another building situated on the west side of South Twelfth street, Seventeenth ward, Pittsburgh, Pa." Around 1951, the Berry Motors Company of Corinth, Mississippi was acquired and made the Berry Division of Oliver Iron and Steel. In late September 1954 the company suffered a work stoppage. Contemporary newspaper accounts mentioned threats of plant closure at the time unless the strike ended. During 1955 longtime president

Theodore F. Smith Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...

moved on to the

Kaiser Engineers ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...

division of the

Henry J. Kaiser Company Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of ...

, and Paul H. Starzman was elected the new president. The Berry Division was subject to an antitrust lawsuit filed on June 11, 1956 At about the same time, the fastener business was sold to

Pittsburgh Screw and Bolt Company Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and the pole line hardware business was merged into the

Oliver Electric Company Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens Fictional characters * Ariadne Oliver, ...

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

. The company had lost money each of the previous 4 years. Oliver Iron and Steel merged into the

Oliver Tyrone Corporation Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens Fictional characters * Ariadne Oliver, ...

effective December 31, 1956. As a new plant for Pittsburgh Screw and Bolt Company was started outside Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County in 1957 the former Oliver Iron and Steel facilities in the Pittsburgh South Side were soon empty. The facilities and land, as well as the Allegheny and South Side Railway, were sold to

Carson Industrial Development Corporation Carson may refer to: People *Carson (surname), people with the surname *Carson (given name), people with the given name Places ;In the United States *Carson, California, a city *Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois *Carson, Iowa, a city * C ...

, who planned an industrial and warehousing park on the land. Pittsburgh City Planning Department aerial photos from 1962 show the land cleared to dirt.

References

{{Reflist Manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania