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Conshohocken Historical Society Alan Wood Steel Company collection
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Held at: Conshohocken Historical Society [Contact Us]120 E. 5th Avenue, Conshohocken, PA, 19428
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Conshohocken Historical Society. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
"The first of the Wood family to engage in iron making in America was James Wood, who in 1792 established a smithy near Hickorytown, Pennsylvania. In 1826, James Wood and his son Alan leased a small water mill at Wooddale near Wilmington, Delaware, for rolling iron plates from purchased bar-iron. The enterprise was moved to Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, in 1832, the employees of the Company moving with the business. In 1857, Alan Wood formed a partnership, known as Alan Wood & Company, establishing the Schuylkill Iron Works in Conshohocken. The partnership was incorporated in 1885. In 1901, a new company was formed under the name Alan Wood Iron & Steel Company, principal owners of which were Howard Wood and Richard Wood, Alan's son and grandson, respectively. Open hearths and a blooming mill were constructed on [sites] at Ivy Rock to produce the blooms to be rolled into sheets at Schuylkill Iron Works...
The company expanded rapidly over the ensuing decades, extending to production of various steel and iron products. It was especially successful under the leadership of Alan Wood, Jr. (1834-1902), who also served as a United States Congressman in the House of Representatives (R-PA) and built Woodmont Mansion in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Alan's uncle John Wood (1816-1898) was also a member of the United States House of Representatives.
In 1907, the Alan Wood company founded Upper Merion and Plymouth Railroad Company as a wholly owned subsidiary to service Company operations on both sides of the Schuylkill River. The railroad was classified as a Class 2 common carrier by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1923.
After 145 years, the Alan Wood Steel Company filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors in 1977.
Bibliography:
Quoted text from: Alan Wood Steel Company. "A.W. Presents Plants and Products." Conshohocken, Pa.: 1961. Document found in collection.
This collection is comprised of assorted published and unpublished materials on the Alan Wood Steel Company. It includes annual reports, pamphlets, brochures, books, and scrapbooks, as well as a small amount of correspondence, financial records, and artifacts. A rough inventory of the collection is provided below.
REPORTS AND MISCELLANEOUS
Alan Wood Steel Company: Background Fact Sheet
The White House Letter Requesting Cost Reduction, 1963
Charleston R. Wood: Biography and newspaper clippings
Aerial view of Alan Wood Steel Plant
Alan Wood Renovation Diagram
Law suit correspondence: Robert F. Grover 1978, salary adjustments: meeting minutes Executive Session of BOD 8/19/1976
Newspaper Clippings: Alan Woods financial troubles, bankruptcy, re-emergence, embezzlement, auction & purchase of Alan Wood Steel Company, 1952-1969
Alan Wood Steel Co. - Employee, 1954
Union correspondence, 1956
Eleutherian Mills Historical Library: assorted correspondences related to items for archiving
Company Statements to the Directors, 1971-1979
Outlook for Alan Wood Steel, 1973
Stockbrokers communications: Vesper Corporation , The Value Line, The American Stock Exchange, 1973 -1979
Newspaper Clippings: Alan Woods financial troubles, bankruptcy, re-emergence, embezzlement, auction & purchase of Alan Wood Steel Company, 1976 - 1979
Survey Report of Worden & Riseberg - to study and recommend a strategies to save Alan Wood Steel Company, 28076
Financial Statements, 1936-1945
Gemeinwirtschaft, Frankfurt International Cooperative Bank, Basel
Articles of Merger
Agreement between The Koppers Co & W.J Rainey, Inc & Certain Stockholders of Alan Wood Iron and Steel Company
Assorted Memorandum
Alan Wood Historical Information
Refinancing
Alan Wood Steel Company Plan for the Future, 1977
Alan Wood Steel to be Sold at Auction, 1978
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1935
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1946
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1947
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1948
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1949
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1950
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1951
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1952
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1953
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1954
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1955
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1956
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1957
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1957
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1959
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1960
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1961
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1962
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1963
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1964
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1965
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1966
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1967
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1968
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1969
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1970
Alan Wood Steel Annual Report, 1976
ATTORNEY CORRESPONDENCE (Edmonds, Obermayer & Rebman)
Attorney Correspondence with Alan Wood Steel Company, 1933
Attorney Correspondence with Alan Wood Steel Company, 1934
Attorney Correspondence with Alan Wood Steel Company, 1935
Correspondence: Included Inter Office, between Morgan, Lewis & Bokius, and 1946 Revitalization Plan, 1946
Correspondence, 1947
Union Agreement: Alan Wood Steel & The United Steelworkers of America May 1, 1974, 1974
Assorted Correspondence , 1977
Correspondence, 1978
Slyk Embezzlement and Indictment articles in the Philadelphia Bulletin and Philadelphia Inquirer, 1979
Alternatives
Alan Wood Steel Business Plan
Publicity
Confidential Report Of White Weld & Co Incorporated, 1976
Assorted Correspondence
Auction Correspondence, 1977
PAMPHLETS and BOOKS
Alan Wood Iron and Steel Company: View of the Mills from Aerial Photographs, 1920
A. W. Presents DYN-EL, 1938
Alan Wood Steel Company, 1956
Alan Wood, A Century and a Half of Steelmaking, by Heston R. Wood , 1957
The Delaware Iron Works: A Nineteenth Century Rolling Mill, by Carroll W. Pursell, Jr., 1959
Ironworks on Red Clay Creek in the 19th Century by Carroll W. Pursell, Jr., 1962
Brochure: Welcome to Alan Wood
"A.W." Rolled Steel Floor Plates
BROCHURES
Second Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co, 1952
Third Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co, 1953
Fourth Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co, 1954
Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel and Quarter Century Club of Upper Merion & Plymouth RR Co., 1957
Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co., 1964
Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co. October 11, 1965 , 1965
Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co. October 17, 1966, 1966
Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co. November 8, 1967, 1967
Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co. November 6, 1968, 1968
Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co. November 12, 1969, 1969
Annual Banquet of the Super-Diamond Club of Alan Wood Steel Co. November 18, 1970, 1970
AGREEMENTS
Bokius and Alan Wood Steel Co., 10255
The Koppers Co and W.J. Rainey Inc. and Certain Stockholders of Alan Wood Steel Co., 10595
Koppers Rainy Agreement if Modified, 10600
W.J. Rainey and Rainey Wood Coke Plant, 10624
Lease & Agreement: Warren Foundry & Pipe Corp and Warren Foundry & Pipe Co and Alan Wood Mining Co, 11/1/1929 to 11/1/1944
Alan Wood Meeting Proposal, 13257
REPORTS
Report on Proposed Extensions of Alan Wood Steel Co, Ivy Rock, PA (done by Stephen Badlam, Pittsburgh, PA), 12549
February Engineering Report on a Steelmaking Feasibility study for Anal Wood Steel Company, 1964
Souvenir handkerchief inscribed: John R. Scott, Super-Diamond Club 1960, 1960
Alan Wood Steel ""Salary"" pin
Alan Wood Tie Clip
Alan Wood Steel perpetual calendar commemorating the 125th anniversary (Gold - 1951-1978)
Alan Wood small flat silver pocket knife with file.
SCRAPBOOKS
Newspaper Clippings about the company, 1958 [AW1]
Newspaper clippings about awards & recognition, politics, expansion, social events, 1959 [AW2]
Newspaper clippings about people, events, politics related to Alan Wood Steel., 1960 [AW3]
The Alan Wood Eaglet company newsletters, 1963-1967 [AW4]
The Alan Wood Eagle (name change) company newsletters, 1967-1971 [AW4]
Materials collected at various times by the Conshohocken Historical Society.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2011-2012 as part of a pilot project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Conshohocken Historical Society directly for more information.
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Conshohocken Historical Society
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Michael Gubicza through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Conshohocken Historical Society for information about accessing this collection.