Heading South on Interstate 15 towards Orem, UT, it’s hard to miss the massive, industrial-themed Harley-Davidson dealership, situated just across the street from where the colossal Geneva Steel Plant once stood. Much of the exterior material used to build the dealership was salvaged from the rubble of Geneva—one of Utah’s largest employers for decades—in an effort to preserve its memory. Since demolition in 2002, Geneva’s smokestacks no longer dominate the horizon, but its impact on Utah Valley’s fate remains profound.

In 1940, Orem had 2,914 inhabitants, most of whom lived on farms. Geneva Steel would drastically change Orem’s demographics within only a few years. As the United States’ involvement in World War II escalated, the US Federal government began sponsoring new steel mills to accelerate production. Orem was considered the perfect location, because not only was it far enough inland to be safe from foreign invasion, but it was also situated near deposits of coal and other natural resources essential for steel-making.

Columbia Steel constructed the plant and began operation in 1944, bringing thousands to the valley. By the end of the war, Orem’s population had more than doubled; the 1945 US Census reported a population of 8,351. The Great Depression had hit hard in Utah, and the prospect of over 4,000 new jobs at Geneva was a powerful beckoning call. One former Geneva worker, Ken Jolley, who was a young man at the time, recalls expanding his paper route to hundreds of people camped out in trailer homes, as there wasn’t enough permanent housing available to accommodate the dramatic influx of families to the valley.

Geneva’s operation continued long after the war, though it wouldn’t last forever. In 1946, U.S. Steel bought Geneva, and after 40 years, sold it to Utah investors. Many factors worked against Geneva—newer and more cost-effective technology was being used elsewhere, foreign competition was replacing American-made steel consumption, and heightened environmental awareness was lowering public approval of the plant. Eventually, Geneva was sold for the last time. Between 2002-2004, some of the equipment was shipped overseas to other steel mills, and the rest of the factory was demolished.

Today, all that physically remains of what was once an operation stretching over 1,750 acres is a motorcycle dealership using Geneva’s remains as its exterior. However, the impacts of Geneva’s steel production, both negative and positive, are still visible. Decades of air pollution and discharge of heavy metals into Utah Lake have been cause for scrutiny, and whether Geneva was detrimental to Utahns’ health has been a pivotal public debate. However, the thousands of people who migrated to Utah Valley and stayed there have made it what it is today. Orem’s rapid shift from agricultural to residential, as well as much of its economic success, is attributable to the plant—born out of wartime necessity and years of labor by thousands of hard-working individuals.

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Geneva Steel was a wartime steel plant built for World War II that continued operation until 2002. After more than doubling the population of Orem in the 1940s, Geneva remained an important part of Utah Valley’s silhouette for decades. It replaced agriculture with industry and farmland with subdivisions. Most of all, it was appreciated as a much-needed source of employment in a Depression-ravaged country. Over the years, Geneva provided jobs to tens of thousands of people. While steel-working was traditionally a male-dominated industry, many women were employed at the plant as well in its 60 years of operation.

Women were employed at the plant during World War II simply because there was such high demand for workers. Many of them didn’t stay in their positions after the war, and went back to more traditionally accepted women’s roles. However, several women did stay working there and many others would follow in coming years. Patty Ivie is one former worker who is still in close contact with the other female laborers that worked beside her. She was raised doing hard work on a ranch, and it wasn’t hard for her to prove herself as an equal to the men working at the plant. “Once the guys knew that we were going to do the job, they were fine with us.” One of her former coworkers reflected, “We might have done things a little differently, but we got them done.”

While Geneva would always be a male-dominated environment, the women who worked there played a valuable role, both inside and outside the factory. Many of them were single mothers or helping support their families, and were glad to find a job that paid more than traditionally female-dominated positions. One woman reflects on her time as a young, single mother—she would commute to Salt Lake City from Orem to get to her minimum wage job in a restaurant. Once she found the much higher wages available to her if she took a job at Geneva, “I just couldn’t pass it up.”

The reasons for taking jobs at Geneva in the 40s and afterward are varied. Some just wanted the experience of working while abundant openings arose during the war; for others, it was a matter of supporting their families. Just as these women forged strong steel behind Geneva’s walls, Geneva forged these individuals into strong, hard-working women.

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