1941 — U.S. government builds a steel mill in Utah County. The mill is named for an old gathering place at the edge of Utah Lake, Geneva Resort.
1943 — The $200 million Geneva plant begins operation. The plant's primary products are plate steel and structural shapes for the shipbuilding industry.
1945 — World War II is over. Contracts for shipbuilding and other defense production come to an end. Geneva slows to standby operations while postwar disposal plans are negotiated.
1946 — The War Assets Administration accepts a $47 million bid for the plant from U.S. Steel. The mill moves to full production. Most operations of U.S. Steel in Utah consolidate under the management of Geneva Steel Co.
1952 — Geneva Steel Co. and Columbia Steel Co. merge on Jan. 1. The merger creates the Columbia-Geneva Steel Division of the U.S. Steel Co.
1957 — Work is completed on a nitrogen-products plant. Geneva's new facility, one of the first of its kind in the country, combines hydrogen from coke gas and fertilizers and nitric acid for farm and industry.
1964 — The Columbia-Geneva Steel division of the U.S. Steel Corp. is dissolved on July 1.
1987 — Geneva shuts down temporarily. Blame is placed on foreign competition and higher labor costs. It starts up again later that same year under new ownership — Basic Manufacturing and Technology of Utah Inc. Joe and Chris Cannon are credited with saving the plant and 1,100 jobs.
1989 — An expensive modernization project begins at Geneva.
1990 — Geneva stock traded on stock exchange.
1991 — The Wall Street Journal features Geneva Steel, calling Geneva a "miracle mill." Also, Geneva's open-hearth furnaces, some of the last operating in the country, cease operation. Joe Cannon steps down as firm's chief to run for the U.S. Senate.
1992 — A bad economy, foreign competition and modernization hit Geneva. A net loss of $4.8 million is reported in first quarter. It's the first loss reported by the company's owners. Geneva and 11 other U.S. steelmakers protest foreign steel dumping.
1998 — Continued influx of cheap foreign steel on the U.S. market continues to hurt Geneva.
1999 — Geneva files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The steelmaking plant was struggling to pay for a $365 million plant modernization when a surge of cheap foreign steel flooded the U.S. market in 1998.
2000 — Geneva Steel secures a major piece of its bankruptcy reorganization plan. U.S. Department of Commerce agrees to guarantee most of a $110 million loan to the steelmaker.
2001— After months of losing money, Geneva Steel temporarily shuts down most of its production Most of the company's 1,200 workers are laid off.
2002 — Geneva Steel, which files for bankruptcy for the second time in three years, asks for a state loan guarantee of up to $10 million to help the steelmaker become a minimill. Potential lenders decline to extend the plant credit.
Sources: Deseret News archives; "Provo: A Story of People in Motion"; "A History of Utah County."