Offer subject to change without notice. The site currently serves as an interpretive museum of industry and hosts a nationally recognized metal arts program. In the late 1940s, two slag granulators were installed to produce the expanded slag needed to make structural concrete, mineral wool and other products, and the old steam-driven blowers were replaced in 1949 and 1951 with two turbo blowers. After closing, it became one of the first industrial sites (and the only blast furnace) in the U.S. to be preserved and restored for public use. Pipe and Foundry Company, and sold nearly two decades later in 1969 to the Jim Walter Corp. Sloss Furnaces located in Birmingham Alabama is a National Historic Landmark.It was in operation from 1882-1970 making it the longest continually running bla. By 1941 when America entered the war, nearly half the labor force was employed by the iron and steel and mining industries; more than two-thirds of the industries workers were African-American. The study can be accessed via the following links: Tuesday Saturday 10am to 4pm 4, comprising the "North Birmingham plant, were built along Huntsville Road north of Village Creek between 1887 and 1889. And the five employees of its The museum is free to visit during their operating hours of Tuesday-Saturday 10:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M. Sloss iron won a bronze medal at the Southern Exposition held in 1883 at Louisville, Kentucky. Voters approved, several years later, a $3.3 million bond issue to preserve the site. Sport climbing, breaking, parkour, and beach handball all held their respective competitions there. Courtesy of https://www.aptv.org/. Sloss Furnaces is a National Historic Landmark in Birmingham. It operated as a pig iron-producing blast furnace from 1882 to 1971. Colonel James Withers Sloss was one of the founders of Birmingham, helping to promote railroad development in Jones Valley and participating in the Pratt Coke and Coal Company, one of the new city's first manufacturers. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Eight steam-driven blowers were installed in 1902 which provided air for combustion in the furnaces, and new boilers were installed in 1906 and 1914 which produced steam for the site until its closure in 1970. A night watchman in 1926 sustained injuries after being "pushed from behind" and told angrily by a deep voice "to get back to work." In the years following the Civil War, railroad men, land developers and speculators moved into Jones Valley to take advantage of the areas rich mineral resources. In 1886, Sloss was sold to new investors that improved them even more. Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The WELDER. He developed gas cleaning equipment, modified the design of the furnaces, and improved the linings of the furnaces. The first blast was initiated in April 1882. Sloss Furnaces produced iron for nearly 90 years, which gave rise to the city. Also, by the early 1960s, higher-yielding brown ores from other regions were feeding the blast furnaces. In the late 1940s, two slag granulators were installed to produce the expanded slag needed to make structural concrete, mineral wool, and other products, and the old steam-driven blowers were replaced in 1949 and 1951 with two turbo blowers. In the late 1930s World War II expanded the market for iron and steel and created jobs for Birmingham workers. Other development projects in the Sloss Real Estate portfolio include Sloss Docks, Pepper Place, and Lakeview. Sloss Furnace Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images By helping people form new attachments to the old furnaces, these programs keep Sloss an active and important part of the community, as it was for almost a hundred years. This money went toward stabilization of the main structures and the construction of a visitors center and the establishment of a metal arts program. Sloss Furnaces is a National Historic Landmark in Birmingham. The Haunted Sloss Furnace in Birmingham, AL - FrightFind The historic Sloss Furnaces is an 18-acre urban oasis that has become quite the tourist attraction. Today, Sloss Furnaces is a historical landmark, giving visitors a look into the living history of iron and steel. Sloss's No. The company reorganized in 1899 as Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron, although it was never to make steel. An amusement park on the grounds of an unused nuclear power plant, with a swing ride inside the cooling tower. In 1871 he struck a deal with the L&N Railroad to complete a 67-mile gap of the South and North Railroad between Birmingham and Decatur. Playing With Fire: Judging Michigans first SkillsUSA welding sculpture competition, Understanding the emergency stop on a manufacturing shop's tube bender, Capital investment: Why manufacturing companies should first consider customers, Watch and adjust: How manufacturing companies of today can learn from the Digital Equipment Corp. collapse, Covering all the pipe fabrication bases with automated welding technology, La prensa dobladora robtica se vuelve flexible, Ideas errneas sobre los cobots y la seguridad, Mantngase seguro con la soldadura lser manual, Blurring the line between artistic and architectural: Manufacturing art with Vector Custom Fabricating. In 1880 he formed his own company, the Sloss Furnace Company, and began construction of Birminghams first blast furnace on 50 acres of land donated by the Elyton Land Company for industrial development. All of the accompanying machinery used in the production of pig iron surrounds the furnaces like a patchwork of machinery and tools. Sloss became involved in railroads in the 1850s and fifteen years later ended up as president of the Nashville and Decatur line. The furnace site, along a wide strip of land reserved in Birmingham's original city plan for railroads and industry, is also part of a proposed linear park through downtown Birmingham. I spent the late afternoon at Sloss Furnaces located in Birmingham Alabama. The dramatic scale and complexity of the plants industrial structure, machines and tools make the Sloss collection a unique contribution to the interpretation of twentieth-century ironmaking technology and presents a remarkable perspective on the era when America grew to world industrial dominance. The authority determined that redevelopment was not feasible and made plans to demolish the furnaces. Colonel James Withers Sloss was one of the founders of Birmingham, helping to promote railroad development in Jones Valley, Alabama and participating in the Pratt Coke and Coal Company, one of the new city's first manufacturers. The engineer in charge of construction was Harry Hargreaves, a former student of English inventor Thomas Whitwell. 20 32nd Street North By World War I, Sloss-Sheffield was among the largest producers of pig iron in the world. Sloss formed Sloss Furnace Company and broke ground on Birminghams first furnace in 1880. The company was a co-developer of Park Place, a 12-block mixed-use community in downtown Birmingham that replaced an aging public housing project. Built in the late 1800s, it became a major player in the flourishing iron and steel industry. The authority determined that redevelopment was not feasible and made plans to demolish the furnaces. Watch on Drone Footage of Sloss Furnaces by the Drone Ambassador The Jim Walter company closed the furnaces two years later, and then donated the property to the Alabama State Fair Authority for possible development as a museum of industry. James Pickering Dovel, the superintendent of construction developed gas cleaning equipment, modified the design of the furnaces, and improved the lining of the furnaces. Today, the Sloss Furnaces site serves as an interpretive museum of industry and hosts a metal arts program that is recognized all over the world. The engineer in charge of construction was Harry Hargreaves, a former student of English inventor Thomas Whitwell. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. [8], In 2022, the Sloss Furnaces was a competition venue for the 2022 World Games. A second ghost, that of a pregnant young girl who committed suicide by leaping into the iron at Sloss, is said to appear in the form of a deer during big celebrations at Sloss. Sloss Furnaces: Birmingham Landmark's History and Horror See. The two Whitwell-type furnaces were 60 feet (18 m) tall and 18 feet (5.4 m) in diameter. Local preservationists formed the Sloss Furnace Association to lobby for preservation of this site, which they considered to be of central importance to the history of Birmingham. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. We were clambering over giant pipes and between industrial silos, feeling our way through underground tunnels and into dark rooms with dusty, dangerous-looking machines. 4, was constructed between 1887 and 1889 along Huntsville Road north of Village Creek. In metal fabrication, dependability, good intentions reign supreme over B.S. The two Whitwell-type furnaces were 60 feet tall and 18 feet in diameter. The architects labelled it "an eyesore and a health hazard. The furnace and its various owners played a large role in the economic development of Birmingham. All the ingredients needed to make iron lay within a thirty-mile radius. By 1941 when America entered the war, nearly half the labor force was employed by the iron and steel and mining industries; more than two-thirds of the industries workers were African-American. Help us keep the magic alive by becoming a member of Sloss Furnaces! New blowers were installed in 1902 and new boilers in 1906 and 1914. Whitwell had been his teacher. Closed Sundays and Mondays Researchers are collecting the oral histories of families who used to live there. Photographs and article courtesy of Bullet at Autopsyofarchitecture and Abandoned Florida. In 1952, the Sloss Furnaces were acquired by the U.S. The maze of pipes, towering stoves, and massive steam-blowing engines that once powered Americas Industrial Revolution now stand silent, serving as a chapel of sorts for reflection on their significance. She talked about its 90 years of iron production . Praising Sloss, an obituary in the national trade journal, Iron Age, stressed his farseeing discernment, indomitable energy and modern ideas. Sloss Furnaces - Bhamwiki Ultimately reaching the Gulf of Mexico, the L&N invested more than $30 million in furnaces, mines, wharves, steamship lines and other Alabama operations. Its amazing how long the site was in operation, only to be shut down after the U.S. Clean Air Act forced its closure. In the late 1930s, World War II expanded the market for iron and steel and created jobs for Birmingham workers. State Fair Authority chair Jack Beasley stated that simply cleaning and repainting the structure could cost in excess of $100,000 and would be a "waste of money.". The Last Pass: Should welders join a professional organization? Today, the site is still being restored and preserved when new funds are made available. The single thing I explored, though, was epic. In September 2019 the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative and its affiliated Jefferson County Memorial Project placed a historical marker at Sloss Furnaces to memorialize Jake McKenzie and Tom Redmond, two African-American men who lost their lives to racial violence in the 1890s at Brookside, a Sloss-Sheffield mine in western Jefferson County. The first blast was initiated in April 1882. In 1886 Sloss retired and sold the company to a group of investors who reorganized it in 1899 as the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company. The Birmingham area had been suffering from a serious air pollution problem during the 1950s and 1960s due to the iron and steel industry there, and Federal legislation such as the U.S. Clean Air Act encouraged the closure of older and out-of-date smelting works. James Sloss retired in 1886 and sold the company to a group of investors who reorganized it in 1899 as the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company, even though it would never make steel. At the 1883 Louisville Exposition, the company won a bronze medal for best pig iron., During the 1880s, as pig iron production in Alabama grew from 68,995 to 706,629 gross tons, no fewer than nineteen blast furnaces would be built in Jefferson County alone. In 1886 Sloss retired and sold the company to a group of investors who reorganized it in 1899 as the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company. TOWN Birmingham STATE Alabama CLASSIFICATION CODE _NOT FOR PUBLICATIONCONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT VCOUNTYCODE Jefferson073 CATEGORY In February 2009 Sloss became the new home of the SLSF 4018 steam locomotive, which was relocated from Birmingham's Fair Park. Following his retirement in 1886, Sloss sold his company to John W. Johnston and Forney Johnson. The company operated as a hierarchy. Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, https://www.bhamwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Sloss_Furnace_Company&oldid=196638. Sloss Furnaces is a staple in the history of Birmingham, Alabama. Historical artists at Sloss Metal Arts join Boilermakers Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark | Birmingham AL - Facebook Seeing the nuts and bolts up close of how the iron industry in the city used to work is pretty cool. Exploring the historic Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Ala. His excellent business qualifications, brilliant intellect, splendid character, and fine executive ability, all combined, make him the grandest man in Alabama today for our chief executive. Every year, the rusted collection of blast stoves and smoke stacks welcomes visitors from all over the world who wish to explore this magical maze of pipes that was once a booming business in the heart of Birmingham, Alabama. In 1981 the furnaces were designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The first blast was initiated in April of 1882. Pratt soon became the largest mining enterprise in the district. At the same time, Sloss is an important reminder of the hopes and struggles of the people who worked in the industries that made some men wealthy, and Birmingham the Magic City. Pipe which acquired the original furnace, coal mines, coke making, and slag wool operations. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. The afternoon rain heightened my sense of reverence for this birthplace of iron. Theophilus Jowers, a foundryman who fell into molten iron at the Alice Furnace is said to have relocated to Sloss after that furnace was shut down. In an article written by Kyle Cobb Jr of Last Gasps Paranormal he believes that the Slag legend was born from the tragic death of Richard Jowers. Pipe and Foundry Company, and sold nearly two decades later in 1969 to the Jim Walter Corp. With the acquisition of additional furnaces and extensive mineral lands in northern Alabama, Sloss-Sheffield became the second largest merchant pig-iron company in the Birmingham district. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the worlds hidden wonders. In 1981, the furnaces were . The original machinery sits as it has since installation. With the acquisition of additional furnaces and extensive mineral lands in northern Alabama, Sloss-Sheffield became the second largest merchant pig-iron company in the Birmingham district. 3 and Sloss Furnace No. The Encyclopedia of Alabama: Sloss Furnaces: Travel Channel: Ghost Adventures: Sloss Furnaces: Haunted Places to Go: The Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama. All rights reserved (About Us). Sixty feet high and eighteen feet in diameter, Slosss new Whitwell stoves were the first of their type ever built in Birmingham and were comparable to similar equipment used in the North. This week on The Fabricator Podcast, we speak with the creative geniuses behind Chicago-based Vector Custom Fabricating, including 2023 FMA Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.