Go to resource on all the furnaces that made Alabama internationally significant in the iron and steel industry This work is the first and remains the only source of information on all blast furnaces built and operated in Alabama, from the first known charcoal furnace of 1815 (Cedar Creek Furnace in Franklin County) to the coke-fired giants built before the onset of the Great Depression. Woodward surveys the iron industry from the early, small local market furnaces through the rise of the iron industry in support of the Confederate war effort, to the giant internationally important industry that developed in the 1890s. The bulk of the book consists of individual illustrated histories of all blast furnaces ever constructed and operated in the state, furnaces that went into production and four that were built but never went into blast. Written to provide a record of every blast furnace built in Alabama from 1815 to 1940, this book was widely acclaimed and today remains one of the most quoted references on the iron and steel industry.

A guide to Birmingham area industrial heritage sites.

Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark is currently the only 20th-century blast furnace in the nation being preserved and interpreted as an industrial museum. Since reopening in 1983, Sloss Furnaces has become an international model for similar preservation efforts and presents a remarkable perspective of the era when America grew to world industrial dominance. At the same time, Sloss is an important reminder of the dreams and struggles of the people who worked in the industries that made Birmingham the "Magic City." Today Sloss is not only dedicated to preservation and education but serves as a center for community and civic events. Site tours and public presentations provide insight into Sloss's industrial heritage as well as a rare glimpse of an early Birmingham that has all but disappeared.

In 1887, iron and steel magnate Henry Fairchild DeBardeleben founded Bessemer and named it for English inventor Sir Henry Bessemer. DeBardeleben's dream was to make the city a steel center that would attract companies and people from all over the United States. Bessemer, like nearby Birmingham, is located within a few miles of all raw materials needed to make steel (coal, limestone, and iron ore). DeBardeleben bought 4,040 acres of land and marked off blocks for the town along Alabama Great Southern Railroad lines. With $2 million in starting capital, he built several blast furnaces for his coal and iron company. Within three years, Bessemer was Alabama's eighth largest city. The population grew so rapidly that Bessemer was nicknamed "The Marvel City." The town quickly developed a thriving business district, beautiful neighborhoods, recreations ranging from parks to boating and dances at Westlake, and industries that spread iron, coal, and railcars across the nation.

Proceedings of a symposium sponsored by Association for Iron and Steel Technology and the Process Technology and Modeling Committee of the Extraction and Processing Division and the Solidification Committee of the Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division of TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society) Held during the TMS 2012 Annual Meeting & Exhibition Orlando, Florida, USA, March 11-15, 2012