In 1983, Fred Seidenberg, son of Oscar Seidenberg (1915-1989) and Helen Greenberg Seidenberg (1921-1999), left Columbia Steel and Metal Co., which his father co-owned, and founded Mid-Carolina Steel and Recycling Company. In 2002, as larger companies increasingly competed with smaller ones in the scrap metal business, Seidenberg added an ornamental iron distribution center to Mid-Carolina to diversify its sources of revenue. From the distribution center, Mid-Carolina sells ornamental iron components manufactured by other companies.