The facility originated in the early twentieth century, instituted and operated from 1909 to 1956 by the Schonthal family. It began with fewer than thirty employees in a 7,200 square-foot building on a three-acre site on the Ohio River at Seventeenth Street. The plant was then owned by H.K. Porter from 1956 until 1982.

In August, 1982, local private investors purchased the property which has expanded to forty-two acres between Fourteenth and Twentieth streets and currently employs approximately 550 local steel-making craftspeople. On December 16, 1998 Roanoke Electric Steel Corporation purchased Steel of West Virginia. Steel of West Virginia operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Roanoke Electric Steel Corporation until April 12, 2006 when Steel Dynamics, Inc. purchased Roanoke Steel and its subsidiaries. Steel of West Virginia is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Steel Dynamics. Steel of West Virginia's industrial and office buildings incorporate over 500,000 square feet and contain state of the art steel-making and finishing equipment to meet customer's specifications.

Steel of West Virginia custom finishes component parts for just-in-time delivery into customer's assembly operations. This is accomplished at the ever-evolving steel manufacturing and fabrication facility in Huntington and a second fabrication facility in Memphis, TN. By anticipating customer's future needs, Steel of West Virginia intends to remain a significant influence in the steel industry and in the community.