Bethlehem then and now, from steel town to arts community

On a recent summer evening, hundreds of people - lawn chairs and blankets in tow flocked to SteelStacks, a premiere arts campus at the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation plant

  • A shipment of seven eight inch and nine ten inch U.S. Army guns are transported from Bethlehem Steel Co. in South Bethlehem, Pa. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

    A shipment of seven eight inch and nine ten inch U.S. Army guns are transported from Bethlehem Steel Co. in South Bethlehem, Pa. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

  • A cargo train rolls by the blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel Co. plant as seen from the Fahy Bridge in Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    A cargo train rolls by the blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel Co. plant as seen from the Fahy Bridge in Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • Workers keep a careful watch on the open hearth furnaces at the Bethlehem Steel Co. plant. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

    Workers keep a careful watch on the open hearth furnaces at the Bethlehem Steel Co. plant. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

  • A section of the five surviving blast furnaces at the former Bethlehem Steel Co. plant in Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    A section of the five surviving blast furnaces at the former Bethlehem Steel Co. plant in Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • The blast furnaces would melt raw materials like limestone, iron ore and refined coal to make iron. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    The blast furnaces would melt raw materials like limestone, iron ore and refined coal to make iron. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • Crowds of Bethlehem Steel workers gather to listen to members of the military speak in September of 1944. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

    Crowds of Bethlehem Steel workers gather to listen to members of the military speak in September of 1944. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

  • A crowd gathers to listen to Fleur Seule, a swing and jazz band performs outside of ArtsQuest at the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation plant in Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    A crowd gathers to listen to Fleur Seule, a swing and jazz band performs outside of ArtsQuest at the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation plant in Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • Employees of Bethlehem Steel Co. manufacture armor plates at the plant. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

    Employees of Bethlehem Steel Co. manufacture armor plates at the plant. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

  • Employees at a 1941 ceremony where Bethlehem Steel received a Navy “E” award. The company employed about 31,000 people during World War II. (AP file Photo)

    Employees at a 1941 ceremony where Bethlehem Steel received a Navy “E” award. The company employed about 31,000 people during World War II. (AP file Photo)

  • Steel Stacks, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, inspired by Landschaftspark in Germany (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    Steel Stacks, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, inspired by Landschaftspark in Germany (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • One of the machine shops where U.S. military weapons and equipment were manufactured. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

    One of the machine shops where U.S. military weapons and equipment were manufactured. (Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

  • Plans have been proposed to transform Machine Shop Number 2 into a Bass Pro Shop. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    Plans have been proposed to transform Machine Shop Number 2 into a Bass Pro Shop. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • One of the empty buildings of the Bethlehem Steel Co. still standing at the Sands Casino Resort campus. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    One of the empty buildings of the Bethlehem Steel Co. still standing at the Sands Casino Resort campus. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • Walker Evans' photo of Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces and steel mill at the foot of the South Bethlehem neighborhood circa November 1935. (Library of Congress)

    Walker Evans' photo of Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces and steel mill at the foot of the South Bethlehem neighborhood circa November 1935. (Library of Congress)

  • Today's view of SteelStacks and the blast furnaces from the former Bethlehem Steel Co. plant. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    Today's view of SteelStacks and the blast furnaces from the former Bethlehem Steel Co. plant. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • Bystanders sitting on a stoop in Bethlehem, Pa. Photograph by Walker Evans circa March 1936. (Library of Congress)

    Bystanders sitting on a stoop in Bethlehem, Pa. Photograph by Walker Evans circa March 1936. (Library of Congress)

  • Zeanna Riveria, 18, Elizabeth Alejandro, 20, Nariah Jimenez, 11, and younger sister sit on the stoop of a South Bethlehem house. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    Zeanna Riveria, 18, Elizabeth Alejandro, 20, Nariah Jimenez, 11, and younger sister sit on the stoop of a South Bethlehem house. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • Jean Barber, 75, waits for a bus outside the Sands Resort Casino in Bethlehem, Pa. Barber said she use to travel to Atlantic City, N.J. to gamble and prefers the convenience of the Sands at the former steel plant where her mother and father worked. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    Jean Barber, 75, waits for a bus outside the Sands Resort Casino in Bethlehem, Pa. Barber said she use to travel to Atlantic City, N.J. to gamble and prefers the convenience of the Sands at the former steel plant where her mother and father worked. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • A view of South Bethlehem from St. Michael's Cemetery. Photograph by Walker Evans circa November 1935. (Library of Congress)

    A view of South Bethlehem from St. Michael's Cemetery. Photograph by Walker Evans circa November 1935. (Library of Congress)

  • Francisco Figero, 23, rides a motorized scooter down Perry Street in South Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    Francisco Figero, 23, rides a motorized scooter down Perry Street in South Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • Advertisement of Main Street shopping. Photograph by Walker Evans circa November 1935. (Library of Congress)

    Advertisement of Main Street shopping. Photograph by Walker Evans circa November 1935. (Library of Congress)

  • Street lamp on the corner of Main and Walnut Streets in Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    Street lamp on the corner of Main and Walnut Streets in Bethlehem, Pa. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • The former blast furnace from the Bethlehem Steel corporation as seen from the parking lot of the Sands Resort Casino. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    The former blast furnace from the Bethlehem Steel corporation as seen from the parking lot of the Sands Resort Casino. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

  • Former Bethlehem Steel Co.warehouse as seen from the parking garage of the Sands Resort Casino. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

    Former Bethlehem Steel Co.warehouse as seen from the parking garage of the Sands Resort Casino. (Lindsay Lazarski/WHYY)

Then and Now photos is an ongoing series from Keystone Crossroads that looks at historical images of the past and photographs of today from Pennsylvania cities and towns.

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On a recent summer evening, hundreds of people – lawn chairs and blankets in tow – flocked to SteelStacks, a premiere arts campus at the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Some came for the free outdoor concert – an Eagles tribute band, and others to listen to jazz standards played by a local band. Just a short distance away, a line of cars formed at the entrance of the Sands Casino Resort.

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With the five remaining blast furnaces as the backdrop of the campus, it’s easy to imagine the Steel in its hey day.

At the height of production, tens of thousands of workers toiled away to manufacture the steel for iconic structures like the Hoover Dam, the Chrysler Building, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Today, many of the mill’s hulking warehouses have been gutted and turned into empty shells fenced off from the public.

Although the transformation from steel city to arts mecca has been nearly two decades in the making since the plant shuddered in 1995, the renewal is not complete.

There are plans to connect SteelStacks to the Sands Casino Resort with a High Line style elevated park using an existing one-mile long rail trestle. Bass Pro Shops has proposed a mega store in the former Machine Shop No. 2 including a museum dedicated to Bethlehem Steel. And there is buzz about luring California’s Stone Brewing Company to the complex.

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Archival images courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Library of Congress.

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