RUST BELT

The Rust Belt, also known as the Manufacturing Belt or The Factory Belt, is an area in parts of the Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic States, and portions of the eastern Midwest. The region can be broadly defined as the region beginning west of the Northeast Megalopolis and running west through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, to the western shore of Lake Michigan. Some definitions include cities as far north and west as the city of Duluth and the Iron Range. The area immediate to Lake Erie is considered to be the "hub" of the Rust Belt. The region extends southward to the beginnings of the coal-mining regions of Appalachia, north to the Great Lakes and includes manufacturing regions of Southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada.
The name 'Rust Belt' came about due to the decline of industry in the 1970s, when many of the region's factories had been closed, and the resulting shuttered buildings were guarded only by rusting gates.



The Industrial Heartland attracted a huge number of immigrants from 1890-1930. The Polish came in droves, especially to Pittsburgh and the Chicago-Milwaukee area. Italians immigrated also, explaining why eight of the 24 Mafia families in America were located in the region. Some other immigrants were Irish, Greek, Slovak, Slovenian, Lituanian, and Hungarian, among others. African-Americans came from the Southern U.S. looking for opportunity as well. All of these people were added to the German and Scots-Irish population that was already present in the area. Echoes of this diversity in the Industrial Heartland today are heard in radio shows and various festivals.


After the steel mill closed the coke works continued to be operated under the name New Boston Coke. This operation closed in 2002 but here are the remaining coke ovens and coal processing building that remain. The metal doors on the ovens have been removed, leaving the refractory brick lining of the ovens naked.

http://www.coalcampusa.com/rustbelt/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_belt