America’s Industrial Age
Alfred Watson grew up in the shadows of the Pittsburgh steel mills lining the Ohio river and was fascinated with their power and size. Later, as a steel plant safety inspector, he would fill his portfolio with images of the steel giants along with the railroads that transported their finished steel products to the world.
When a job transfer took him to Buffalo in 1946, he focused his lens on that city’s waterfront industry including the huge boats that docked along the shore filling their holds with products for the nation.
Under the watchful eye of its captain, the tugboat Maryland tows the bulk carrier J.F Schoellkopf, Jr. thru a narrow channel. Built in 1907 the Schoellkopf had a gross tonnage of 7301.
Under a supervisor’s watchful eye, workers dredge an area of a canal on the waterfront that will soon provide safe harbor for the large ships that dock there.
Looking like a giant steel monster, a connection of huge pipes bend over an industrial facility while a small plane flies overhead.
Pittsburgh Steel Industry
This photograph of steel mills lining the Ohio river was taken from the West End Overlook near Watson’s childhood home. The artist later titled it after a 1942 novel of the same which took place in Pittsburgh.
A workmen walks slowly away from his job site after a long day of hard labor. Although the image was taken in the Pittsburgh area, the exact date and location unknown.
A brakeman carries his lunch pail as he walks along the tracks towards the Pittsburgh railway depot. Steam from the resting rail cars obscures the skyscrapers in the distance.
Although the sun is high in the sky, it is barely visible in this image of a Pittsburgh rail yard taken while Watson was on his lunch break from the Hagen Corporation.