Acme Steel, Chicago Coke Plant
All week long the forecast was calling for a high of near 70F. In my mind, this meant that there might be some fair weather explorers who wanted to swing by. God bless them on their investigations but I prefer to be alone, so I did my best to get on the road early. I […]
My TQI bulletin board and my suggestion box were found on different dates but are inextricably linked by their original intended use. So finding duplicates of both was quite a thrill – and yes, I had to take those too. So I’ll just say it one time, for the record, as clearly as I know […]
There is something especially enjoyable about taking the bus to the plant. And something about visiting the plant in bad weather: cold, and a heavy load of fresh snow is preferable. The more you have to suffer to attain something, or survive the journey to your destination (and back), the sweeter it is. As of […]
My first exposure to this logo was on the 2001 original version of acmecoke.com. When my friend (and Acme veteran) Steve Buckner mentioned that he had created a site near the end of the plant’s run, I went to archive.org to find it. I ended up rebuilding the site on my own server which is […]
Besides a good salesman, nothing sells a product quite like a fancy brochure. It was three such glossy, elegant brochures that caught my eye during a document retrieval back in the winter of 2021. Only a few pages long each, but printed on high color, heavy card stock, their beauty was too much to pass […]
This is a short video that was inspired by probably my favorite document of the thousands I have handled and removed from the site. It captures everything that my imagination creates when I think of the hardships of working at a coke plant. In my mind’s eye I can see everything described here. I will […]
The main office is a sight to behold to all visitors to the plant, whether seasoned or not. 93 years old as of this writing, its solid construction is built to last a millenia. I have found countless artifacts and important documents here and while I have had many interesting times around the property, I […]
Acme/Interlake was more than just a coke plant. This was an integrated steel maker. That refers to a corporation that consists of a coke plant – which feeds it’s blast furnaces to make iron. That iron is then sent to a mill where it is converted into steel via a basic oxygen furnace. However Acme […]
On January 15 2022, I was on what must have been my 35th site visit. I wandered into the coal bunker for the first time in months and came across this. Another yellow suggestion box! This one is also cracked open and ‘TQI’ has been scrawled onto the door. Above it is a bulletin board […]
I doubt very much that too many people (perhaps none) have been curious or stupid enough to walk or ride along the tracks to investigate this western border of the plant. If they had, they would have discovered this very unique sign and certainly someone would have scooped it up long ago. But to the […]