Building A Strong Foundation

Many, if not most of us from the Youngstown area know something about our past era of Industrial might and how it allowed this region to flourish for many years. Heck most of us have at least one person in our families who worked in the steel industry in some way. As things change and time moves forward there are many younger folks who are fairly far removed from that time in our history.
There is a place slowly and deliberately preserving and restoring the machines and tools of our past. If you have not heard of The Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation, look it up, its worth it! Over on the East side there is a growing museum of our Steel Industry history that is and will be far more than a place of exhibits of images. This place will show you the machines up close and personal and you will see how these machines ran and created steel that forged America into a superpower. If you have not seen the Tod Engine yet stop by the sight on rt. 62/7 on the East side on your way to Hubbard. It is truly awe-inspiring to stand next to this gigantic machine. Everything about the place is big,hard, and heavy. The sense of scale compared to us is amazing. we are soft fleshy beings and everything about this place is huge, hard and extremely heavy. This Foundation is the brain-child of Rick Rowlands and it is his passion for preserving this big part of our history that drives this project ahead with a bit of help from a few helpers. What they accomplish with so few hands is truly a wonder.
I am sure I am leaving out much about this story but just go see this place on a Sat. say Hello to Rick and buy a t-shirt to aid in the growth of this great foundation.

Rick adds railway to add another train/car to his collection

This place is all about tools.

Chuck Hughes gives some scale to this hook.

Chuck offers his might driving rail spikes.

The view facing the back of the area looking towards Downtown Yo.

Chuck Hughes drivin spikes!

Rick takes a look at the new tshirts.