Steel trident from World Trade Center erected at Pennsylvania museum to pay tribute on September 11
PHILADELPHIA - A large piece of history sits in Chester County as the nation comes together to remember the lives taken during the 9/11 terrorists attacks.
The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum in Coatesville is home to the largest collection of World Trade Center steel outside New York City.
In 1969, Luken's Steel built massive steel structures, known as "trees" or "tridents," as support systems for the lobby and nine floors of the Twin Towers.
Most of the tridents were still standing after the tragic attacks, and now one is visible to visitors outside the museum, which now stands at the former location of the steel company.
"Where those tridents are is where the glass windows were for the offices on the first floor," said Jim Zigler, executive director of the museum. "And these columns would have gone down to the floor, or what's called Ground Zero today."
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The museum said they would re-erect the 9-foot-tall, 30-ton structures as part of their 21st annual commemorative ceremony for September 11.
"This was part of the World Trade Centers, iconic building in New York City," Zigler said.