Life on the South Side of Bethlehem

The streets that stretch up from the steel plant make up South Bethlehem. Over the decades, this community grew along with Bethlehem Steel's growing workforce. Generations of workers lived, shopped, attended school and church, played sports, and socialized in the shadow of the Steel (the locals' nickname for the plant). The sounds of the plant echoed through this vibrant working-class community.
"They used to shoot out the soot from the furnace at night, and the soot that they shot out maybe was the size of sand on a beach. And my mother used to sweep that up and put it in the trash every day so that you wouldn't walk in it and bring all that dirt into the house."
- Joseph J. Achando
Beam Yard Inspector
[Photo captions, from left to right, read]
· Around 1917, Bethlehem Steel formed two baseball leagues, a Corporation League and a Bethlehem Plant League, in part to harbor big-league players avoiding the World War I draft. Teams were originally made up of professional players. Later, company staff was invited to join. Games between departments and other companies were played on South Bethlehem fields.
· This image of St. Michael's Cemetery was captured by Walker Evans in 1935. Many were born, worked, died and were buried in South Bethlehem with the



Steel always within sight.

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Show me all markers in:  Bethlehem, PA  |  Northampton County  |  18015  |  Pennsylvania  |  United States of America

Hot, Loud, & Dangerous
The Blower House
Making Iron
Bethlehem Built
Immigration & Industry
Blast Furnace
The Bethlehem Beam
Air Products
A Legacy of Steel
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