Morgan Park : Duluth, U.S. Steel, and the forging of a company town

From 1915 to 1971 the large U.S. Steel plant was a major part of Duluth’s landscape and life. Just as important was Morgan Park—an innovatively planned and close-knit community constructed for the plant’s employees and their families. In this new book Arnold R. Alanen brings to life Morgan Park, the formerly company-controlled town that now stands as a city neighborhood, and the U.S. Steel plant for which it was built. Planned by renowned landscape architects, architects, and engineers, and provided with schools, churches, and recreational and medical services by U.S. Steel, Morgan Park is an iconic example—like Lowell, Massachusetts, and Pullman, Illinois—of a twentieth-century company town, as well as a window into northeastern Minnesota’s industrial roots. Starting with the intense political debates that preceded U.S. Steel’s decision to build a plant in Duluth, Morgan Park follows the town and its residents through the boom years to the closing of the outmoded facility—an event that foreshadowed industrial shutdowns elsewhere in the United States—and up to today, as current residents work to preserve the community’s historic character. Through compelling archival and contemporary photographs and vibrant stories of a community built of concrete and strong as steel, Alanen shows the impact both the plant and Morgan Park have had on life in Duluth. Arnold R. Alanen is professor of landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His previous books include Main Street Ready-Made: The New Deal Community of Greendale, Wisconsin and Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America.

From 1915 to 1971 the large U.S. Steel plant was a major part of Duluth’s landscape and life. Just as important was Morgan Park—an innovatively planned and close-knit community constructed for the plant’s employees and their families. In this new book Arnold R. Alanen brings to life Morgan Park, the formerly company-controlled town that now stands as a city neighborhood, and the U.S. Steel plant for which it was built.

 

Planned by renowned landscape architects, architects, and engineers, and provided with schools, churches, and recreational and medical services by U.S. Steel, Morgan Park is an iconic example—like Lowell, Massachusetts, and Pullman, Illinois—of a twentieth-century company town, as well as a window into northeastern Minnesota’s industrial roots.

 

Starting with the intense political debates that preceded U.S. Steel’s decision to build a plant in Duluth, Morgan Park follows the town and its residents through the boom years to the closing of the outmoded facility—an event that foreshadowed industrial shutdowns elsewhere in the United States—and up to today, as current residents work to preserve the community’s historic character.

 

Through compelling archival and contemporary photographs and vibrant stories of a community built of concrete and strong as steel, Alanen shows the impact both the plant and Morgan Park have had on life in Duluth.

 

Arnold R. Alanen is professor of landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His previous books include Main Street Ready-Made: The New Deal Community ofGreendale, Wisconsin and Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America. 

Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Preface......Page 14 Introduction: Model Company Towns in America, 1800–1914......Page 20 I. A Steel Plant and a Company Town, 1907–1915......Page 38 1. The Economics and Politics of Iron Ore and Big Steel......Page 40 2. Building a Steel Plant: Recession, Indecision, and War......Page 52 3. Neighborhood Housing from Gary to Oliver......Page 75 4. The Emergence of a Model Company Town......Page 90 II. Working and Living in Morgan Park, 1916–1929......Page 126 5. Stability and Prosperity for U.S. Steel......Page 128 6. The Complete Company Town......Page 156 7. Engineering the Good Life......Page 209 III. From Despair to Prosperity, 1930–1945......Page 244 8. Struggling for Work during the 1930s......Page 246 9. Getting By and Making Do......Page 258 10. More Steel for Another War......Page 267 11. No More Company Housing......Page 281 IV. Closing a Steel Plant but Preserving a Community, 1946–2006......Page 288 12. Six Strikes to Shutdown......Page 290 13. Preserving the Model Town......Page 305 Notes......Page 326 B......Page 354 C......Page 355 D......Page 356 G......Page 357 J......Page 358 M......Page 359 P......Page 361 S......Page 362 W......Page 364 Z......Page 365 Photographs of Morgan Park......Page 194