Homestead Steelworks The Homestead steelworks, outside Pittsburgh, is pictured shortly after J. P. Morgan created U.S. Steel, the precursor of today’s USX. Try to count the smokestacks in the picture. Air pollution on this scale posed a threat to the health of citizens and made for a dismal landscape. Workers complained that trees would not grow in Homestead. The Granger Collection, New York. READING THE IMAGE:What does the photo tell you about the purpose of Homestead? What does it say about the lives of the Homestead workers? CONNECTIONS: How did the Homestead steelworks reflect Gilded Age values and interests?