Provo's Iron and Steel Industries

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This page was last updated on July 11, 2026.

Provo's Iron and Steel Industries

Any history of Provo, Utah's early iron and steel industries must mention the rise, operational achievements, and frequent financial struggles of local manufacturing enterprises in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This includes foundries and iron and steel manufacturing.

The Provo Foundry & Machine Company, incorporated in December 1884, stands out as a pioneering venture that adapted local spaces—like the old Cluff entertainment hall—for heavy manufacturing. Over the decades, the Provo Foundry changed hands and leadership several times, enduring temporary closures due to the nationwide 1893 economic panic before finding stability under Thomas F. Pierpont. At its peak, the enterprise manufactured a wide assortment of goods ranging from commercial boilers, waterworks castings, and heavy structural columns to everyday household items like parlor stoves and flat irons. In the same time period, the Sun Foundry & Machine Company, was incorporated in 1890 on West Center Street.

Both entities frequently battled severe financial strain stemming from under-capitalized stockholders who refused to pay for their non-assessable shares. This financial structure forced the companies to rely strictly on incoming job revenues during a major financial downturn, triggering a cascade of creditor lawsuits, attached machinery, and eventual foreclosure sales. By the turn of the century, these pioneering operations laid the industrial groundwork for Provo, culminating in expanded brick facilities, specialized steam and water-powered machinery, and a reputation for producing high-quality architectural iron and mining machinery.

Includes links to the U. S. Steel plants and information about Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe.

Provo Foundry & Machine Company

Incorporated in December 1884, the Provo Foundry & Machine Company was established by Cluff, Booth & Co. to manufacture iron and brass castings, repair machinery, and produce items ranging from parlor stoves and cookware to structural components. Operating out of the old Cluff entertainment hall on today's 200 North and 200 East, the facility used local Utah Valley iron and steadily upgraded its machinery, expanding into specialized industrial services like processing fire-proof iron oxide paint and crafting large structural columns for local institutions. Despite its production capabilities, the business repeatedly faced severe financial and legal tribulations during its early decades, leading to multiple temporary closures, a shutdown during the 1893 financial panic, and numerous lawsuits from banks and creditors over unpaid stockholder capital and chattel mortgages.

A turning point occurred when Thomas Pierpont leased the facility, eventually becoming the sole owner. Under the Pierpont family's leadership, the enterprise navigated its insolvency hurdles and underwent a significant relocation and expansion. By the late 1890s, the company moved away from its original site to lease and later purchase the former Sun Foundry plant. By 1907, the company had established a massive 19,000-square-foot industrial complex at Center and Fifth West Streets, equipped with steam and water power to manufacture mining machinery, plumbing, and architectural steel.

Sun Foundry & Machine

(The Sun foundry was located on the northwest corner at the intersection of 7th (Center) and E streets in Provo. Shown on the 1890 Sanborn Fire Insurance map, Sheet 7; on the 1900 map, Sheet 10. Today's 500 West Center Street.)

Sun Foundry & Machine Company was incorporated in Utah in 1890, though it had already been advertising its iron and steel working services since 1889. Located on the northwest corner of 7th (Center) and E streets in Provo—today's 500 West Center Street—the company offered a full range of foundry work, including steam engines, boilers, cast and wrought iron products, and specialty items. In 1891, the firm expanded its operations by acquiring a smelter stamp mill and steam engine from a played-out mine at Tintic, signaling early ambitions for growth.

That growth proved short-lived. By 1893, financial troubles caught up with the company: unpaid stock assessments, mounting creditor lawsuits, and an eventual court-ordered receivership led to the sale of its assets and a lengthy legal battle with stockholders over unpaid dues. The foundry was leased and renamed the Silver Iron Works under superintendent William Silver, later passing through additional lessees before fading from the historical record by the mid-1890s. The site itself lived on, however—by 1898 it had become home to Pierpont & Heaton's Provo Foundry & Machine Company, which purchased the property outright in 1901, carrying forward the location's industrial legacy into the new century.

U. S. Steel In Utah (1946-1986)

U. S. Steel Geneva Works -- Information and locomotive rosters for U. S. Steel's Geneva Works, later operated by the independent Geneva Steel Corporation.

U. S. Steel - Columbia Steel Ironton Works (1923-1966)-- Information and locomotive rosters for Columbia Steel's iron works at Ironton.

U. S. Steel Wellington Coal Wash plant -- Information and locomotive roster for U. S. Steel's coal washing plant near Wellington, Utah.

Defense Plant Corporation -- Information about the World War II era government program to expand the production of steel in Utah, including a new coal mine in Carbon County, additional iron ore mining capability in Iron County, and the Geneva steel plant.

Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co.

May 1926
The site for a future cast iron pipe foundry and plant was inspected by James R. McWane of McWane Cast Iron Pipe Co., and negotiations were started for the formation of the company, and construction of the plant. (Salt Lake Tribune, May 18, 1926)

July 2, 1926
Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company was established in Utah on land adjacent to the site of Columbia Steel's Ironton plant. Land for the Pacific States site was purchased from the same Provo-Springville Holding Co. that had acquired a large parcel of property for the location of the iron plant, but which was not actually needed by them. The Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company was incorporated in Nevada on July 2, 1926, with L. F. Rains as president, who was also president of Columbia Steel. Construction of the plant had already started. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 3, 1926)

By early August 1926, erection of the steel buildings was started, with October 1st as the target date for completion. Construction was under the direction George E. Sibbetts, chief engineer of Columbia Steel, and manager of Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co. Sibbetts was also shown as vice president, treasurer and consulting attorney of the company when it was organized in early July. (Salt Lake Tribune, August 4, 1926; July 3, 1926)

During a late September 1926 visit by J. R. McWane to the Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe plant that was under construction, McWane is shown as being the president of the company, with George Sibbett as general manager and L. F. Rains as a director of the company. The planned completion date had been pushed to November. The first carload of equipment for the plant, made at the McWane plant in Birmingham, Alabama, had been received at the new Pacific States plant "ten days ago." Prior to the decision to open a plant in Utah, carload lots of pig iron and sand had been shipped to Birmingham to test the process. McWane held several patents for the manufacture of cast iron pipe, including the "forecaulked joint and the horizontal process of casting pipe." Before opening his own company, McWane had previously been president of American Cast Iron Pipe Co., also in Birmingham. (Salt Lake Tribune, September 26, 1926)

November 22, 1926
The first production of cast iron pipe took place at Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co. on Monday November 22, 1926. The cast iron pipes produced were 4-inch soil or sanitary pipe, five feet in length, using the process patented by J. R. McWane. There were a total of 80 employees at the time. Pacific Cast Iron Pipe used pig iron, foundry coke, and electrical power from the adjacent iron plant of Columbia Steel Corporation. Construction of the plant began on July 10th. Full production commenced in late December, and by early January, a full carload of cast iron sanitary pipe had been delivered to a local Salt Lake City plumbing distributor. The plant was constructed to supply cast iron pipe to the Intermountain and Pacific Coast regions, and several carloads had already been shipped to California. (Salt Lake Tribune, November 23, 1926; January 9, 1927)

December 1926
In a brief review of the iron industry in Utah, it was reported that Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co. was a joint operation of McWane Cast Iron Pipe Co., and Columbia Steel Corporation. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 4, 1926)

January 31, 1930
"Provo, Jan. 31 -- The U. S. Steel corporation's interest in the Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe company has been purchased by J. R. McWane, president of the latter company, and his associates. The amount involved was not announced. The Pacific States company was formed in May 1926, by the McWane Cast iron Pipe company and the Columbia Steel corporation. The company's plant is situated at Ironton and has a capacity output of 80 tons of cast iron pipe per day. The U. S. Steel corporation recently acquired the Columbia properties." (Ogden Standard Examiner, January 31, 1930)

1977
As part of its continuing expansion, McWane Cast Iron Pipe Company formed McWane, Inc., as a corporate holding company to better manage and control its growing number of subsidiaries.

January 26, 2015
McWane Cast Iron Pipe Co., Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co., Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co., and Clow Water Systems were consolidated under the new name McWane Ductile. (McWane Ductile press release dated January 26, 2015)

(Read the Wikipedia article about McWane)

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