In 1947, Larry Antonelli, an Italian immigrant who had worked in the steel business for a quarter century, decided to set up shop for himself. He bought some land on Willard Street and started L. Antonelli Iron Works with four employees. At its peak, the company was one of the largest steel fabricators in New England, turning out 1,000 tons of steel per month for buildings and bridges. 

A fabricator takes raw steel and cuts and drills it to customer requirements. The steel that was produced by Antonelli is found in many local buildings, including the new section of Quincy City Hall, the Stop and Shop building, a section of Quincy City Hospital, Broad Meadows and Atlantic Middle Schools in Quincy and the South Middle School and Liberty Elementary Schools in Braintree. It also produced the steel for the pavilion that housed the altar for Pope John Paul II's Mass on a rainy Boston Common in 1979.