The Birds The roots of the company go as far back as 1740, when William Bird, whom had worked as an
apprentice at Colebrookdale Furnace near
Boyertown, bought land along the
Hay Creek and
Schuylkill River. On this land he erected his first
forges: the Birdsborough Forge (where modern Birdsboro stands), and the New Pine Forges. Munitions produced by Birdsboro from the end of the Second World War up to the Vietnam War would be produced through the Armorcast subsidiary. It was around this time operations for
uranium and
plutonium metal
enrichment for military construction of
nuclear weapons such as the likes of
Castle Bravo,
The Ivy Bombs, as well as
nuclear reactors began. The facilities for enrichment were located outside of Birdsboro near the community of
Gibraltar as well as
Buffalo, New York. during this time Birdsboro Steel began to make deals with
Pittsburgh based
Mesta Machine Company. In their talks they discussed plans to
copy right and patent products they produced such as cooling beds. That way, both companies could
corner the market with their products and have total
control and say of the price. In 1956 both companies were found out and were sued by the
United States Federal Government for
price fixing and
anti trust violations. During the
court case,
evidence was brought up regarding the plan to patent cooling beds (heavy machinery for steel making) and how it was not a unique product of Birdsboro nor Mesta since it was first patented in 1872 and had since been made by other machinery builders besides Birdsboro and Mesta. By 1960, while the case was still in session, Birdsboro Steel Foundry and Machine Co reorganized for the final time as Birdsboro Corp. by 1963 both Birdsboro and Mesta were
found guilty of
price fixing and
anti trust violations. Two years later in 1965, a
sentence was delivered stating that both Birdsboro and Mesta would have to pay
fines up to $25,000 as well as personal fines up to $3,500.
Decline and Closure Though it was still one of the largest employers in the country, imports from foreign nations began to put strain on the company. The Brooke Family, whom were the sole owners of the company since the 19th century were forced to sell their assets to
Victor Posner's upstart company called Pennsylvania Engineering Co based out of
New Castle, Pennsylvania. Birdsboro Corp had become a subsidiary company. During the early 70s Birdsboro Corp continued to manufacture munitions for the military until 1975 when Birdsboro failed to win a
government contract for tank making at Armorcast. This did major amounts of damage to the already sinking company. By 1979 Birdsboro Corp launched a $4.5 million expansion program hoping that expanding the industrial capacity and means of out put would somehow help the company recover. However, the program ended up putting the company more into
debt. As a result, Birdsboro Corp began cutting wages and drastically increasing work hours leading to a
strike taking place later that year putting more strain upon the company. by 1987,
Victor Posner, current asset holder of Birdsboro Corp, began to file for
chapter 11 bankruptcy for his companies. due to cheap imports, a lengthy strike and poor management, Birdsboro Corp officially closed its doors in 1988. Many of Birdsboro Corp's facilities were soon acquired by the likes of Carpenter Technology Corp and
Lukens Steel. == Legacy and influence ==