“In the fall of 1899 a gentleman, who introduced himself as a nephew of a congressman I had known many years, called at my office in Cincinnati and endeavored to interest us in the building of a rolling mill for manufacture of such sheets as we used in our business. We were large users of sheet steel, and he desired to have us interested in order to be sure of a market for the product of his proposed mill.
“He outlined a very attractive proposition and endeavored to show us that such a mill as he described could be built for a very reasonable sum of money. He further stated that both the citizens of Zanesville and Middletown, Ohio, were anxious to secure such an industry and would give a very handsome bonus in cash and land, or both, to secure it. He rather preferred Zanesville, but was willing to consider either place.
“He finally induced me to investigate his proposition and to visit both cities so as to form my own opinion as to location. … We finally agreed to accept the offer made by Middletown, as we felt it was nearer to our Cincinnati business, and for that reason would be more valuable to us.”
Verity then pointed out that the Middletown Industrial Committee investigated the proposed new steel mill and made him an offer. However, Verity discovered that the promoter of the new enterprise could not make good on his part of the offer. Verity explained, “The only thing left for us to do was to buy him out and go it alone, as we had already signed a contract with your industrial committee and felt obligated to carry it out..”
Speaking of the reasons for choosing this location, Verity stated that one thing Middletown had was plenty of water, and vast quantities are needed in steel manufacturing. Not only did the Great Miami River provide water but there was a large aquifer.
Verity found that fuel and raw materials were expensive to transport to this Middletown. At that time, coal cost 50 cents per ton more than at some Ohio River sites. Pig and scrap iron had to come by railroad. It cost $1.35 more per ton to haul pig iron to the city than it did to Toledo.
Middletown had good access to natural gas pipelines, but if the company had to rely on coal, the cost would have been higher, for the city is not near enough to coal fields. Neither could Middletown overcome the advantage of being near the ore fields that was offered by northern Ohio communities. Verity had said he had originally hoped the Miami-Erie Canal would be made into a barge canal to provide cheaper water transportation, but this did not materialize.
George M. Verity became the vice president and manager of The American Steel Roofing Company, which was located along the public landing in Cincinnati. They were a small manufacturer of steel roofing and siding that purchased flat steel sheets from sheet-rolling mills. The owners of the sheet-rolling mills bought billets and bars from steel makers who were mostly dependent on blast-furnace operators who purchased ore and coke from other suppliers. As the 1800s were coming to an end, people like Andrew Carnegie, were forming syndicates to gain control of these small producers. The syndicates were enacting large price increases that were affecting the small fabricating companies like The American Steel Roofing Company.
As an officer of the Sheet Metal Roofing Association, Verity worked out a plan for cooperative ownership and operation of factories engaged in the manufacture of sheet-metal building materials. This did not work, but he realized that a link with a rolling-mill would strengthen his fabricating business. With that in mind, his ideas increased to the point that he saw a need for a mill that started with the raw materials and ended up with finished products, thus the American Rolling Mill Company was born.
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