Homestead Strike, Bost Building

1. THE BOST BUILDING

3. 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.

4. 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.

6. The Homestead
Strike
• 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.

7. • The AA strike at the Homestead steel Nature of the
mill in 1892 was different from
1892 strike
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.

8. THE BATTLE OF HOMESTEAD

9. 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.

10. 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.

12. The battle of July 6, 1892
stirred deep feelings of
• and the workers of Homestead. identification between
workers throughout the
United States
• 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 worker’ s’ rights at the end
of the 19th century.

13. 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.

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

16. HISTORIC PHYSICAL
APPEARANCE OF THE BOST
BUILDING
• The Bost Building retains the design and feeling that it had when it served as
the Amalgamated’ s 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 borough’ s maineast-west thoroughfare.

39. THE RESTORED ROOMS
• 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.

40. 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.

41. 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.

42. 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