In 1980, a statuary group depicting two steelworkers tending an open hearth furnace was placed in a prominent position on Youngstown's Federal Plaza – the heart of the downtown business district. The sculpture had been commissioned by the city and executed by a local artist. At the same time, the Youngstown office of the Ohio Historical Society was negotiating with U.S. Steel for the acquisition of an aging blast furnace from one of its newly shut-down steel mills. The blast furnace would be used as the centerpiece of a museum on steelmaking in the Mahoning Valley. By 1980, steel in Youngstown could no longer be taken for granted. Statues and museums were needed as reminders of the historic role of steelmaking in the development of the Youngstown area.

Steel Industry: Local Origins

Ironmaking in the Mahoning Valley began not long after the arrival of the first European settlers. The historian Kenneth Warren (1973) notes:

In that period, local entrepreneurs began to exploit the iron ore found in the rocky hills along the river banks, smelting it in stone furnaces that were given names, just like sailing ships. (Often the furnaces were named after the wife or daughter of the owner.)