This cyanotype of the Maryland Steel Company of Baltimore County's fitting out shop was taken on this date ...

Cyanotype photograph showing a shipyard's fitting out shop and sheers

This cyanotype of the Maryland Steel Company of Baltimore County's fitting out shop was taken on this date, June 20, in 1892, shortly after the shipyard was built.

In 1887, the Pennsylvania Steel Company constructed a steel plant at Sparrow's Point, Maryland on the mouth of the Patapsco River. Shortly after construction was completed, the plant was incorporated as the Maryland Steel Company of Baltimore County. That same year, 1891, the Marine Department, which included a shipyard, was created. The steel-works and shipyard continued to operate as the Maryland Steel Company until 1916, when Bethlehem Steel acquired the Pennsylvania Steel Company and its subsidiary, Maryland Steel.

This collection consists of 3 albums containing 204 cyanotype photographs taken at the Maryland Steel Company's steel plant and shipyard between 1890 and 1894. The first album contains exterior and interior photographs of buildings involved in steel production and steel workers.

The second album consists of photographs of the company’s shipyard; this photograph is part of this second album. This album includes many views of the construction of the shipyard, as well as interior and exterior photographs of shipyard buildings in use.

The third album documents the construction and launch of ships built by the company, primarily tugs and coastal passenger steamships.

To view these albums online now in our Digital Archive, just click here!