Introduction : Model company towns in America, 1800-1914 -- The economics and politics of iron ore and big steel -- Building a steel plant : recession, indecision, and war -- Neighborhood housing from Gary to Oliver -- The emergence of a model company town -- Stability and prosperity for U.S. steel -- The complete company town -- Engineering the good life -- Struggling for work during the 1930s -- Getting by and making do -- More steel for another war -- No more company housing -- Six strikes to shutdown -- Preserving the model town.