LTV Steel Hullers, Chicago 12/03 – the LTV Coke Chicago Plant along the Calumet River was supplied with its coal by barge that can up from downstate Illinois over a system of rivers and canals. Both this facility and the one in the background – Acme Steel – closed in the Big Steel Recession of 2001 when 50 large American steel firms went into bankruptcy.
There’s a lot of talk about the Cleveland Hullers on Lake Erie as being the last Hullers in operation. This is false. The Chicago Hullets were fully active until the end of 2001 and the Cleveland Hullers shut down in 1996.
The Cleveland machines date back to 1911 and there were four which were the largest made. Curiously the Chicago Hullets were installed in 1943 utilizing almost the identical design as the earlier models.