Liberty Steel, 1227 Front Street (Georgetown): 2024 no comments
I drove through Georgetown on my way to Charleston back on 8 August, and I noticed that demolition had actually started on the downtown steel plant, most recently Liberty Steel. I was running behind, so I didn't stop and try to get closer as I probably should have (on the other hand, it's not clear there was much acces anyway), but given that it may all be gone soon, I thought I would post the pictures anyway. This has always been an interesting feature of downtown Georgetown: Colonial houses, a normal business section (now more quaint than back in the 60s - 00s) and then wham, industry. The town has taken a number of blows recently, the port closing, a big fire, this plant closing, & the paper mill closing. Hopefully the redevelopment can recoup some of the job losses.
The Department of Environmental Services has an interesting writeup on the site, which includes a good bit of history I did not know:
The Liberty Steel (Former Georgetown Steel) Property (“the Property”) is located at 1227 Front Street, Georgetown, South Carolina. The Property includes approximately 66 acres and is located in a generally commercial and industrial area near the downtown section of the City of Georgetown. The Property is currently developed as a steelmaking plant that manufactured wire rod in coils. The steelmaking plant has been closed since 2024.
Review of historical records indicates that the Property was part of the Serenity Rice Plantation, which dates to 1710 and operated until after the Civil War when industrial development and further residential development occurred along the west side of Georgetown.
In 1903, the Atlantic Coast Lumber (ACL) Company opened a large lumber mill along the north bend of Georgetown Harbor on the Sampit River, generally covering the present location of the Property. ln the 1930s, ACL was impacted by market conditions associated with the Great Depression and a downturn in demand for lumber. The plant ceased operation in 1932.
From 1932 until approximately 1969, the former ACL site remained partially or completely vacant. Prior to development of the steel mill, other site operators include Georgetown Chemical Works, a portion of American Cyanamid, Standard Oil Company, Riverside Oil Company. Georgetown Veneer, and Georgetown Plywood.
In 1970, the site was developed by the German-owned Georgetown Steel Company into its current configuration as a steelmaking plant. Steel production on the Property continued until 2024, despite a number of idles and stoppages due to economic conditions and ownership changes in the 2000s and 2010s.
Here is another article on the demolition from the recycling industry trade press and here is a Post & Courier story.
