Charles Martin Hall
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Hall's invention of electrolytic manufacture of aluminum was first applied to commercial production in 1888 by the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which later became Alcoa. This process, developed here, made the commercial use of aluminum possible.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Here in 1888 the young inventor Charles Martin Hall's method of producing aluminum by electrolysis was first put to commercial use by the Pittsburgh Reduction Company — the firm that would grow into industrial giant Alcoa. Before Hall's breakthrough, aluminum was a rare and costly novelty; his process made the lightweight metal cheap and abundant. What began as a Pittsburgh experiment turned aluminum into a staple of the modern age.
Why it matters
The electrochemical process proven here made aluminum affordable for everything from cookware to aircraft, a foundational innovation of the industrial and aviation eras.
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