About Us

When Charleston Steel & Metal first opened in Samuel Steinberg’s back yard on King Street in 1893 , customers  brought their scrap metal in horse drawn wagons. Only a few years after a devastating  Earthquake in 1886 that decimated the city and the economy, Charleston was in economic woes. Eventually Charleston was able to build an elaborate public building in 1896, the United State Post Office and Courthouse, and Its completion signaled a renewed life in the heart of the city.

Samuel’s two sons, Leon and Jack, took the helm in the early 1930’s after Samuel’s death. Charleston Steel was awarded its first major contract in 1939 with the City of Charleston to “exploit scrap iron materials from the city dump.

In 1961, Leon’s son Samuel joined the business and  Jack’s son, Bernard, followed suit in 1968. As the City of Charleston evolved and grew, so did Charleston Steel and Metal. In 1982, CSM purchased property in lower Berkeley County to increase its footprint in the region. Due to the significant addition of agricultural land, CSM opened a second full scale processing facility on this site and relocated its useable steel sales headquarters to this location.

Samuel’s son , Stephen, joined CSM in 1991.  CSM expanded its operations to Georgia and still maintains a recycling facility in Augusta, Augusta Steel & Metal.  Samuel retired in 2006 after 45 years at CSM. In 2008, CSM moved its downtown headquarters to a state of the art scrap recycling facility on Spruill Ave. just over the city line in North Charleston.  Bernard’s son, Jonathan, completed the 4th Generation when he arrived back in Charleston in 2012. Family owned and operated.