THE BOST BUILDING

The Bost Building Built in 1892

Built as a hotel for the rapidly growing workers’ ward of Homestead, the Bost Building, also known as the Columbia Hotel was at the center of American labor history's most dramatic episodes - the Homestead Lockout and Strike.

During the summer of 1892, the Bost Building served as headquarters for the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. Using the third floor of the building as a watchtower, steel union officials monitored activities in the mill site and along the Monongahela River.

The Bost Building also served as the base for American and British newspaper correspondents who filed their stories daily for a world that was hungrily following the events of the labor strike that pitted the Carnegie Steel Company against the strongest labor union at the time.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BOST BUILDING

• The Bost Building is the primary resource associated with

the 1892 Battle of Homestead.

• The period of significance is June 29, 1892, when the

workers were first locked out of the Homestead Steel

Works of the Carnegie Steel Company through November

21, 1892, when the Amalgamated official ended the strike

and its Advisory Committee vacated the Bost Building. It

includes the bloody events of July 6, 1892, the date of the

Battle of Homestead.

• The Homestead Strike was an industrial lockout and

strike which began on June 30, 1892, culminating in a

battle between strikers and private security agents on

July 6, 1892. It was one of the most serious disputes in

US labor history.

• The dispute occurred at the Homestead Steel Works in

the Pittsburgh-area town of Homestead, Pennsylvania.

The final result was a major defeat for the union, and a

setback for efforts to unionize steelworkers.

The Homestead

Strike

• The AA strike at the

Homestead steel mill in

1892 was different from

previous large-scale strikes

in American history such as

the Great railroad strike of

1877 or the Great Southwest

Railroad Strike of 1886.

• Earlier strikes had been

largely leaderless and

disorganized mass uprisings

of workers. The Homestead

strike was organized and

purposeful, a harbinger of

the type of strike which

would mark the modern age

of labor relations in the

United States.

Nature of the 1892

strike

THE BATTLE OF HOMESTEAD

• The bloody confrontation on July 6, 1892, between an industrial giant of world proportions and one of America’s strongest labor unions was known at the time and still today as the Battle of Homestead. The battle raged around the Homestead Steel Works of the Carnegie Steel Company, Limited, located on the southern bank of the Monongahela River in Mifflin Township, Pennsylvania, seven miles upstream from Pittsburgh. The mill was situated just over the boundary between Mifflin Township and the Borough of Homestead.

THE BATTLE OF HOMESTEAD

Participants in this worldwide news event were 280 members of Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, the remainder of the steel works �total labor force of 3,800, most of whom were non-union, and 300 guards from the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, hired by the company to protect the property and those workers whom the company planned to hire as strikebreakers.

• and the workers of Homestead.

• The importance of the Homestead Steel Strike of 1892 and its impact on American

history cannot be over emphasized.

• The strike has entered the annals of American history as

one of the great battles for workers’ �rights at the end of the 19th century.

The battle of July 6, 1892 stirred deep feelings of identification between workers throughout the United States

Hugh O'Donnell (born c 1863) was a descendent from one of the most notable families in Ireland. He had worked as a newspaper reporter before drifting into steel working.

O'Donnell was admired by his neighbors and co-workers in Homestead, PA for several reasons. He was a quick thinker and an excellent speaker, owned a fine house, and was "envied for having the prettiest wife in town" (Wolff, 87). Because of the admiration they had for him, the steelworkers who gathered during a mass meeting after the June 30 lockout chose O'Donnell as leader of the Advisory Committee, a position which resulted in his being blacklisted for life once the strike was over.

The Bost Building was at the center of American labor history's most dramatic episodes - the Homestead Lockout and Strike.

HISTORIC PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF THE BOST

BUILDING

• The Bost Building retains the design and feeling that it had when it served as the Amalgamateds headquarters �during the pivotal days of July 1892.

• The Bost Building is a three story, vernacular brick commercial building laid in a common bond. It is located at 621-623 East Eighth Avenue in the Homestead borough, just over the line from the borough of Munhall, where Heisel Street enters Eighth Avenue from the north. Constructed in 1892, the Bost building was conveniently located adjacent to the Homestead Works steel mill on the boroughs maineast-west thoroughfare.�

• Two rooms in the building have been restored to the way they looked in 1892, with original floorboards and period reproduction wallpaper. One room tells the story of the Homestead Strike; the other contains

photographs that chronicle the restoration of the building from dilapidation through its opening as the Rivers of Steel Visitors Center.

• Recently added to the restored rooms is a computer kiosk displaying an exciting documentary on the Battle of Homestead. Using archival footage, photographs and documents, this film allows you to learn

about history on the site where it occurred.

The Homestead Room• The Homestead Room is a permanent exhibit displaying artifacts and

art work specifically related to the Homestead Works. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a 23.5' long model of the Homestead Works that

originally stood in the General Office Building of the mill.

THE RESTORED ROOMS

The Bost Building is the best surviving structure associated

with this important strike. The Bost Building has undergone two years of

renovations at a cost of $4.5 million. This building is

located in one of 11 designated state heritage

regions, it now serves as the main visitors’ center for the

Rivers of Steel national Heritage Area. The renovated Landmark building includes a

third floor exhibit hall and restored rooms used by union leaders during events of 1892.

The Bost Building also houses offices for the Steel

Industry Heritage Corp.

The attachment that brings me closest to the landmark and its location is the name of the buuildig itself. It is located on property

that is now Homestead, which originally was Mifflin Township. Mifflin Township

once was called Bost Farm. My ancestors originally lived in this area known as Bost

Farm.

This building has special significance to me being that my last name is Bost, and that I grew up only a short distance away from

the Historic Bost Building.

Bibliography

Bost Building (1892 Homestead Strike). n.d. <http://explorepahistroy.com>.

National Historic Landmarks Program (NHL). n.d. <http://tps.cr.nps.gov>.

Pennsylvania Historical Markers-Bost Building. n.d. <http://www.waymarking.com>.

Rivers of Steel. 2011. 22 March 2011 <http://www.riversofsteel.com>.

All black and white photographs credited to Rivers of Steel