Steel Mills

Steel and paper mills in East Chicago Indiana and Cloquet Minnesota, including ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor and the USG plant

The Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago has operated continuously for more than a century, making it one of the most enduring examples of integrated steelmaking in the United States. Founded as an Inland Steel Company facility in 1893, the complex grew into a sprawling industrial city on the Lake Michigan shoreline, its early-twentieth-century brick headquarters built to project permanence and industrial authority.

By 2015, portions of the broader East Chicago mill complex were already being dismantled. The view down Dickey Road that year caught the site before demolition altered it, a reminder that even facilities of this scale are subject to consolidation and contraction as the American steel industry restructured across decades of trade pressure and shifting ownership.

The core Indiana Harbor plant survived those changes and passed through ArcelorMittal's ownership before Cleveland-Cliffs acquired ArcelorMittal USA in 2020. It continues to operate multiple blast furnaces, coke batteries, and finishing lines, remaining a working anchor of the region's industrial economy rather than a relic of it.

The USG paper mill in Cloquet, Minnesota, represents a different strand of the same broader story — heavy manufacturing embedded in a small city whose economy was built on timber and forest products long before gypsum wallboard entered the picture. USG traces its origins to 1902, and its Cloquet facility connects a Carlton County community to a continental supply chain serving the construction industry.

USG company sign with directional arrow at an industrial facility in Cloquet, Minnesota. — *September 23, 2021* — USG Corporation, once known as United States Gypsum, traces its roots to 1902 and today ranks among the largest manufacturers of gypsum wallboard in North America. The company's Cloquet facility sits in a Carlton County city long tied to the region's timber and forest products economy. USG's core products include drywall, joint compound, and ceiling systems sold to builders and contractors across the continent.

USG Paper Mill in Cloquet, Minnesota, illuminated at night. — *September 23, 2021* — USG Paper Mill in Cloquet, Minnesota, operates as an industrial manufacturing complex on the city’s south side. The facility includes a guarded entrance, rail siding, and large production buildings associated with United States Gypsum’s paper operations. Night security lighting illuminates the plant and adjacent yard.

ArcelorMittal Steel Mill Headquarters, East Chicagoi — *October 19, 2019* — The ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago, Indiana, is one of the largest integrated steelmaking facilities in the United States. The complex traces its origins to the Inland Steel Company, founded in 1893, and its massive brick headquarters—seen here—was built in the early 20th century to symbolize industrial power along Lake Michigan. Today, the plant remains a cornerstone of American steel production, encompassing multiple blast furnaces, coke batteries, and finishing lines. Now operated by Cleveland-Cliffs following its 2020 acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA, Indiana Harbor continues more than a century of continuous steelmaking on Chicago’s industrial lakeshore.

Dickey road, ArcelorMittal, East Chicago Indiana — *August 28, 2015* — The view from the Cline Ave Toll Road looking down Dickey Road in East Chicago, Indiana, as seen in 2015 prior to the demolition of the ArcelorMittal steel mill.

Steel Mills

Minneapolis Photographer