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A view of Johnstown, PA, from the top of the Inclined Plane at Westmont, by photographer William H. Rau, circa 1891.
flipFlip to The Edgar Thomson Steel Works, by William Rau, Braddock, PA, 1891.
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A view of Johnstown, from the top of the Inclined Plane at Westmont, by William H. Rau. In the center of the scene is Johnstown Passenger station and The Cambria Iron Works, which later became Bethlehem Steel is at the far left.

Credit: Courtesy of the American Premier Underwriters, Inc.,(reproduction provided by the Library Company of Philadelphia)

The Cambria Iron Works in Johnstown had been producing iron rails for thirteen years when John Fritz made the first steel rails in the United States there in 1867. When William Rau took this photo in 1891 the Cambria mills employed more than 7,000 workers and spread out over 13 miles along the Conemaugh, Little Conemaugh, and Stonycreek Rivers.

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