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 1889 the Cambria mills employed more than 7,000 workers and spread out over 13 miles along the Conemaugh, Little Conemaugh, and Stonycreek Rivers.
