The Keystone Bridge Company was founded after a Pennsylvania Railroad bridge burned down. Carnegie worked with John L. Piper and Schiffler to build bridges out of iron instead of wood (Carnegie 116). One of this company’s major accomplishments was the St. Louis Bridge that was built across the Mississippi River (Nasaw 135). Carnegie realized after many failures that iron was not strong enough so he decided to use steel. After seven years of construction the St. Louis Bridge was completed (“People & Events: Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919). In order to prove that the bridge was trustworthy Carnegie had an elephant walk across it (Nasaw 135). After his success with Company, Carnegie decided to move on to a different business.
With experience in the iron business behind him, Carnegie Steel was founded. The manufacturing process of steel increased, and Carnegie was able to open several other mills to increase production (“Andrew Carnegie Biography”). With the additional mills, Carnegie was able to produce more steel than all of Great Britain (“People & Events: Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919”). With a competitive price, Carnegie Steel was able to take off and become involved in various bridge and skyscraper construction sites (“The Steel Business”). Carnegie was able to obtain wealth from Carnegie Steel that he used to help …show more content…
When Carnegie was young, American libraries were not free. Colonel James Anderson allowed children to use his personal library for free which strongly influenced Carnegie (“Andrew Carnegie, Philanthropist”). He desired to build libraries that were “free to the people” (Gangewere 108). Carnegie funded a library in Dunfermline, his hometown, which fulfilled a promise he made to his mother when he was young. He later built a library in Allegheny City with an art gallery, music hall and a lecture room (Van Slyck). He donated five million dollars to the New York Public Library and constructed libraries in Pittsburgh and New York (“Andrew Carnegie Biography”). He served the handicap, offered family counseling and reading rooms for women and children in them (Gangewere 113; Van Slyck). People were able to learn how to do taxes and access various information in these libraries (Gangewere 113). To watch over the libraries, Carnegie opened the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1911. After spending millions of dollars to support and open many libraries in America, Andrew Carnegie was able to provide free reading to people (Van