Published April 10. 2024 11:13AM
by ED PANY Curator, Atlas Cement Company Memorial Museum
In 1888, the first Atlas Cement Company plant was built in Coplay. Due to the need for more cement rock, the company constructed Atlas Plants 2, 3 and 4 between 1895 and 1905.
These plants were located in Northampton. This was the largest cement complex in the world for many years.
The Great Depression in the 1930s crippled the Atlas plants and the entire Lehigh Valley cement industry. In 1931, the United States Steel Corporation purchased the Atlas. The plants only operated a few months each year.
In 1936, the new company - Universal Atlas - started to demolish Plants 2 and 3. Plant 4, the largest of the three plants, continued operations until 1944.
In 1940, U.S. Steel decided to construct a new modern plant on the old Atlas site. Construction started in late 1940 and continued until 1943. The Turner and McDonald Construction Company of Chicago was awarded the contract.
All the cement used to construct the new plant was produced at Atlas Plant 4, a short distance from the new plant.
A raw mill, used to grind raw materials during the manufacturing of cement, is installed during the 1940-43 construction of the new cement plant at the site of the first Atlas Cement Company plant.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS Construction progresses on the pump house.
Large equipment and materials are used for the kiln building.
Rock storage is arranged to assist with construction.
Flotation tanks are used during the construction process.
