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Increase in pig iron and steel production, January 1, 1940-January 1, 1945.
Credit: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives
During World War II, Pennsylvania supplied 31 percent of America's steel and 20 percent of worldwide production. Forty-one percent of the nation's steel was produced within a half-hour train ride of Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Steel industry would continue to thrive into the 1960s before beginning a swift, and for many a catastrophic decline.