Bethlehem Steel manufactured its last products in Bethlehem on Nov. 18, 1995. It's difficult to believe that the corporation that once employed up to 165,000 people and made steel for 122 years is no longer conducting business. It was America's second largest steel producer and the largest ship builder. Everyone in the Lehigh Valley was touched in some way by "The Steel," as most Lehigh Valley residents referred to the company. Either a family member worked there or a neighbor or a friend or someone you knew was employed at the approximately four-mile long company located adjacent to the Lehigh River in Bethlehem.

If you did not work within the secure confines of the plant, you probably don't know many of the stories that went on behind the scenes. Perhaps your dad or brother or a close friend who worked at the steel told a few stories, but now it is possible to take the Steelworkers' Archives Steelwalker Tour led by former steelworkers.

The Steelworker Archives, Inc. advertises the tours as "Guided by former workers who walk the walk and can talk the talk." The Steelworkers' Archives was formed in 2001 to ensure that the legacy of the steelworkers is preserved. Many of the guides are returning to the plant site after working at the company for over 30 years.

The tours begin at the Bethlehem Visitor Center at the SteelStacks. The visitor center and ArtsQuest offices are located in the restored 1863 Stock House, the first building erected on the site of the Saucona Iron Company property, the forerunner of the Bethlehem Steel Company. The Saucona Iron Company became the Bethlehem Rolling Mills and Iron Company and then the Bethlehem Iron Company. On April 17, 1899, the company became incorporated as the Bethlehem Steel Company.

My wife Bev and I recently took the one and one half hour tour. We were met at the entrance to the visitor center by four former workers who are members of the Steelworkers' Archives. We both found the tour to be both interesting and informative. Unfortunately, there were only four people on our tour. But what could be better than the ratio of one guide to one visitor. Plus, our guides conducted the tour as if they had a packed house of visitors following them around the immediate vicinity of the visitor center and the ArtsQuest area.

We followed the guides from the visitor center walking west. A number of the buildings no longer exist due to the redevelopment of the site. A few of the buildings are being preserved and reused. For example, the No. 8 Hammer Shop was razed to construct the ArtsQuest Center and the PBS39 TV Studio.

I sat to rest on one of the large I-beams that serve as benches just west along the avenue that passes by the visitor center as the four guides took turns explaining what went on in the various buildings and related personal memories.

The 1913 Electrical Repair Shop is undergoing restoration and renovation and will become the National Museum of Industrial History in affiliation with the Smithsonian Institute. I was surprised to learn that the large arched windows were open and not covered by glass. I had assumed that over the years the glass and panes had been broken and/or dismantled. The open-air windows allowed for air flow in the warmer months while the heat coming from many furnaces and foundries provided the heat needed for the workers in the winter.

The workers are especially proud of the Bethlehem Steel Workers Memorial located along Third Avenue near the security gate entrance. The monument depicting a steelworker in work uniform holding up an I-beam honors workers who lost their lives in work related accidents from 1915 to 1996.

The Steel produced iron and steel for armor and oversize gun barrels for battleships. During World War II, the Steel produced about one-fourth of the wartime battleship armor, heavy gun barrels, and ships for the Navy, plus nearly three-fourths of the airplane engine cylinders.

The Steel also produced steel for famous industrial landmarks like the cast iron segments for railroad tunnels constructed under the Hudson River to New York City, large turbines for the Niagara Falls Power Company, special steel used in yachts that competed in the America's Cup sailboat races, steel for the George Washington Bridge and Chrysler Building in New York City, Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Bridge and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, the Panama Canal.

The goal of the Steelworkers' Archives is to create a permanent community center in Southside Bethlehem for the preservation of the history of the steelworkers, their rich heritage and diverse cultures, their struggles and accomplishments.