"You had generations working here fathers, sons, grandsons. They lived well here," Sampson said. "This was Steel Town U.S.A." But the era of prosperity slowly ebbed. Colorado Fuel and Iron purchased the plant in 1952. By the time the company closed the factory on June 30, 1974, it employed just 1,500 people.

TINA MARKOE/Courier-Post Mayor George Sampson would like to see the old Roebling Steel Mill cleaned up and redeveloped.

For eight more years, another company would lease the mill's buildings to a series of smaller industrial operations. including small-scale steel manufacturing, a tire plant and paper recycling. But for all intents and purposes, the plant's glory days were finished. The closure devastated the area. "Once those people walked out of the plant, they were done," said Sampson, who was also laid off.

Today, the area surrounding the plant consists largely of lower middle-class homes and small-town businesses barely holding on. A corner bar that once served Roebling workers is shuttered with plywood. The federal Environmental Protection Agency named Roebling to its Superfund cleanup list in 1983, and performed some initial cleanup work. But the massive complex still needs lots of work. Holding up the process at one point was the lack of money and the inability of EPA to identify a corporation to pay for cleanup.

Roebling has long been out of business and Colorado Fuel and Iron declared bankruptcy years ago. EPA was left as an unsecured creditor, with an outstanding $20 million debt the government's estimated cleanup cost.

Key to breaking this logjam was getting the EPA and other government entities to give up liens on the property. Recently, the agency forgave more than $20 million in property liens … the estimated cost of cleanup on the property. This step clears the way for the township to form an authority that will take over and condemn the land.

The new authority will give up all liens, a step Sampson hopes will entice developers to cooperate with EPA in cleaning up and developing the property.

"I lived with this place when it was at its best and saw it when it was at its worst," Sampson said. "Now, I'm excited it's coming back."