Unpaved street near Weirton Steel Mill

Description:

At the end of 1936, Mydans left the Resettlement Administration and began working for LIFE magazine. One of his early assignments took him to the steel mill at Weirton, West Virginia. Influenced by his time in the R.A., he concentrated on the workers' living conditions and their work practices.

During the early 1900s, Ernest Tener Weir built modern steel mills in the upper Ohio River valley between Ohio and West Virginia. A town was built above the valley. It depended solely on Ernest Tener Weir for electricity, water, gas, sewage, and paving. The town had no municipal government of its own and no police force or fire department, except the company's. In LIFE (Sept. 13, 1937) the caption that accompanies this photograph reads: Like most Weirton streets, Avenue B is not paved and its worker homes are little brightened by sooty shrubs and vines.

Date Made: 1937

Photographer: Mydans, Carl

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: West Virginia, Weirton, Weirton Steel Mill

See more items in: Work and Industry: Photographic History, Photography, Carl Mydans

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Related Publication: Life Magazine

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 2005.0228.022Accession Number: 2005.0228Catalog Number: 2005.0228.022

Object Name: photograph

Physical Description: paper (overall material)Measurements: overall: 11 in x 14 in; 27.94 cm x 35.56 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-f8f3-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_1303272

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