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3D Satellite, 6911+ photos!)
In the years following the Civil War, railroad men, land developers and speculators moved into Jones Valley to take advantage of the area’s rich mineral resources. All the ingredients needed to make iron lay within a thirty-mile radius. Seams of iron ore stretched for 25 miles through Red Mountain, the southeastern boundary of Jones Valley. To the north and west were abundant deposits of coal, while limestone, dolomite, and clay underlay the valley itself. In 1871 southern entrepreneurs founded a new city called Birmingham and began the systematic exploitation of its minerals....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....Sloss-Sheffield became the second largest merchant pig-iron company in the Birmingham district. Company assets included seven blast furnaces, 1500 beehive coke ovens, 120,000 acres of coal and ore land, five Jefferson County coal mines and two red ore mines, brown ore mines, and quarries in North Birmingham. By World War I, Sloss-Sheffield was among the largest producers of pig iron in the world. [history]
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On Feb 18, 2020, we stopped at the
Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. I took so many photos, I'm using them to illustrate various aspects of making iron rather than photo spamming these notes.
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A video about the facility The Clean Air Act and plastics were part of the demise of the plant. They are a free museum. "
Sloss Furnaces was created in 1881 by James Withers Sloss and within only 2 years is producing 250 – 300 tons of iron per day. In the 1920’s Sloss Furnaces was rebuilt allowing them to more than double production, making up to 900 tons of iron every day. The furnaces ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The location for Sloss Furnaces was perfect because of the numerous train tracks that surrounded the site. This ease of transportation allowed Birmingham to become the first industrial city built without being near a body of water, which was the most efficient method for moving products and people at the time. Another factor in the success of not only Sloss but all of Birmingham’s Iron industry was that this is the only place in the world where you find all three products needed to make iron (iron ore, limestone, and coal) all within 30 miles of each other."
William A. Shaffer
posted nine photos with the comment:
The Sloss Furnaces of Birmingham, ALBack in 1958, my parents attended a Lions, International Convention in Chicago. One of the souvenirs they brought back was a miniature ingot of pig iron with the name "Sloss" cast into it. I had no idea what "Sloss" meant or was, so the mini-ingot sat in my desk drawer as a paperweight for many years. A couple of years ago, I happened to read an article about the Sloss Furnaces of Birmingham, which had closed in 1970. The site received National Historic Landmark Status in 1981 and opened to the Public as a Museum in 1983. I was naturally intrigued as to the photo possibilities and had hoped to plan a photo journey to see the site when the "Crescent" went right by it during The Great Adventure of 2019. Here are some of the photos I shot, through the window of the coach of a moving train!
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Two images
posted by James Torgeson with the comment: "Here's both sides of a 30 year old Sloss Furnaces rack card that I found in my files. The gent on the reverse was retired from USS, if I remember correctly. The Sloss City Furnaces were donated by Jim Walter Industries to the Birmingham Fair Authority in 1971. They are now owned by the City of Birmingham and are a popular as both a museum and event venue."
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Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark posted
As we celebrate Black History Month, we honor the pivotal role of Black workers at Sloss Furnaces. Their hard work and dedication fueled Birmingham's iron industry, shaping the city's history, economy, and cultural diversity. Let's remember and recognize their contributions. |
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Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark post
💥Did you know the furnaces you see at Sloss today were rebuilt in 1920? During construction, they installed a water cooling system within the structure of the furnace, pictured here. The water pipes on the furnaces and around the site are painted blue, stop by and check them out on a self-guided tour! |
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safe_image for African-American Labor at Sloss Furnaces and Red Mountain.mp4
In celebration of Black History Month, and all the accomplishments of Birmingham’s African-American industrial workers, we are honored to share a short video on African-American labor at Sloss Furnaces and Red Mountain in partnership with Historian Greg Wilson, Lawson State.
James Torgeson shared
Ronald Armstrong: This picture sure does not look like the Sloss Furnaces I have seen there.
James Torgeson: I "believe" the photo is the other Sloss plant, not the City Furnaces that have been preserved. |
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Jim Torgeson posted
A photo a friend took at Sloss today. The Sloss City Furnaces were a two blast furnace merchant iron plant that ended iron making in 1971 and now serves as an industrial museum and event venue. |
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Joe Fowler posted
Sloss Furnace in Birmingham Alabama. Operated from 1882-1971
Glenn Gillis: What's the purpose of the white tower, just left of center?
Chris Anaya: Glenn Gillis looks to me a cooling tower hot water is pumped to the top the trickles down through a series of things to cool it down by air and sent back into the plant |
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Raymond Boothe posted
Sloss blast furnace-Birmingham, Alabama (Dr. Raymond Boothe photograph). |
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River Rail Photo posted
Furnace Progress. Under a cloudless sky, Norfolk Southern Corp Train AB10 heads from Finley Yard in Birmingham, Alabama to Irondale Yard in Irondale, Alabama on August 13, 2021 with NS SD60Es 6919 and 6901 leading. In the background, Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Birmingham stands today as a museum, but operated as a pig iron producing blast furnace from 1882 until 1971. The furnace was named for one of the city's founders, Colonel James Withers Sloss. With its recently repainted white, blue and yellow, Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron #30 (DS4-4-660, Baldwin, 9/1948) looks better than it has in many years. The unit started with Sloss, and would later operate at U.S. Pipe & Foundry and Allied Chemical #921 before returning years later as a static display.
Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2n5AaA6 |
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Carl Ardrey posted
AGS trains shoved in and out of the terminal station. No. 2 in April, 1976.
James Torgeson shared |
It is interesting what angles an industry art photographer finds.
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Jeff Picka posted
Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham AL. |
61 photos
posted by Benjamin Bair
Kyle McGrogan A very interesting and historically well preserved industrial site covering the period 1870-1971, with a lot of engineering, metalworking and African American history. Plus an ex PRR L2Sa Mikado outside the gate as Frisco ####! Take the tour, and then just walk around studying the plant, it's worth the time you take.
Benjamin BairAuthor
Kyle McGrogan it’s really an ex-PRR? I would have never guessed without the Belpaire firebox!
Kyle McGrogan Assigned to the "Grand Rapids and Indiana " in Michigan. PRR had no use for USRA anything beyond the N2Sa 2-10-2's. Odd isn't it? Two surviving PRR USRA machines are the one in Birmingham, and SLSF 1651, a "Russian" 2-10-0 at Union, IL. PRR really hated the Russian locomotives and couldn't get rid of them fast enough, but they were known as the "Green " locomotives on PRR (probably from the Russian Imperial Railways paint scheme)!
Jeff Toth: Been here to see this furnace - it has a “banded” bosh! No continuous steel jacket to confine the brick lining and the burden material along with the process! You can see the exposed cold face (backs) of the brick lining, in pic #2. Always amazed me.
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| Jeff Toth commented on his comment |
Bert Pass: Inland's #6 furnace was like that. Had to keep it lit on fire all the time to keep gas from building up in the area. I was never surprised when a hot chunk of something popped out at me while walking past!
Rick Marwitz: Bert Pass I worked on a breakout on that furnace once. It let go between the bands.
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Jeff Picka posted
Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham AL.
Grit Tomc: Made by the William B. Pollock Company- Youngstown Oh
James Musser: Jeff Picka It was a fairly unique hot metal car used to move hot iron from the cast house to the pig casting machines. They weren’t terribly far apart, and the car was moved with wire rope and a winch, although i guess a locomotive could have grabbed it occasionally to move elsewhere for re-lining or whatever. It looks very large, but isn’t in reality. I measured the car ten years ago or so, and started building one in HO scale and was surprised at how small it was. This was pre my 3d printing, so i was carving the body out of wood. Might get back to it someday, or maybe Kevin J. Tully might make one? (I have a few dozen photos, measurements, production photo, and there are patent drawings of the car) Sloss only made iron, no steel making, so their sole product was pig iron. Birmingham was foundry central USA so large local demand for iron. They had two blast furnaces so I guess at least two of these cars, maybe more, unless the tapping schedules were staggered. The remains of the pig caster is still there, but is mostly in pieces on the ground. Great place to visit, highly recommend. |
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| Rick Rowlands commented on Jeff's post |
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Rick Rowlands commented on Jeff's post
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Rick Rowlands commented on Jeff's post
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David Wlody posted
Steel mill, Birmingham Alabama, from Amtrak’s Crescent.
Ben Godwin: Sloss didn’t make steel at this plant. That facility had two blast furnaces that transformed iron ore, coal and limestone into pig iron. The iron ingots were shipped to a steel mill.
Dennis DeBruler: Ben Godwin Actually, many of the ingots were shipped to other companies in the area that made cast iron pipe.
Ted Straub shared |
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1 of 3 photos posted by Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark
We had a packed house yesterday at our iron pour field trip! Sharing the history of Sloss and pouring metal? It’s a win win!
James Torgeson shared |
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Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark posted
We had the pleasure of hosting The American Dream TV show yesterday as they filmed a new episode on the Birmingham area. And of course we gave them the best views! Look for the Emmy nominated and 5x Telly award winning show this June as it airs on HGTV, Prime Video, YouTube TV, Roku, and other streaming services! |
Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark posted three photos with the comment: "A great day for an iron pour field trip! The wonderful students of Pelham Ridge Elementary came out to Sloss today to learn the history of the iron industry and make some iron art!"
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Barry Thorn commented on the above post
I would love to know what this wrench was used for and how was it lifted? |
Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark
posted five photos of it lit up in five different colors. James Torgeson
shared.
James Torgeson
shared Roy Gee Biv's
post of 15 photos. I particularly like the ninth photo. It shows the difference between a professional photo and the ones I took. Not only does the framing make it look better, it captures more information.
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