In honor of Steel Weekend 2025, we will host a pop-up exhibit exploring archival material related to the most iconic building on the former Bethlehem Plant site – on view through January 2026. Once the largest industrial building in the world, the iconic Number 2 Machine Shop was designed by John Fritz and constructed in two phases between 1889-1892. Stretching over a quarter of a mile long, the extreme length was needed to machine the large guns, forgings, and other products produced by skilled workers in this department.
During its full operation, it contained lathes measuring 110 feet long, 13 cranes to carry loads up to 50 tons, 6 boring mills, giant drill presses, and other machine tools as well as a state-of-the-art metallurgical laboratory, also designed by John Fritz.