The impact of steel on civilization is indeed quite profound. And it’s a fascinating story, at least for me. Sure, there was iron that was produced in various forms, eg; I-beams and channel and the like, but iron is a crappy metal compared to steel. And I don’t think the difference is much appreciated. We would have some of the things that machines have produced but not all, and I suspect the quality of goods available would be rather inferior.
Shortly after the Civil War, steel production allowed the replacement of railroad rails of such superior quality that they lasted ten years before replacement, whereas the older rails lasted only six months and were prone to all-too-common catastrophic failure.