Ironworks: (
Satellite)
Grist Mill: (
Satellite)
The Ironworks had Three Furnaces
I learned while studying the
Sloss Blast Furnaces that northern Alabama had a strong iron industry because iron ore, coal and limestone were all available in the area.
This restoration shows how the blast furnaces were built near a hill so that a "charging bridge" would allow them to easily load materials into the top of the furnace.
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Alabama Memories posted
The Tannehill Ironworks is the central feature of Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park near McCalla in Tuscaloosa County. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Tannehill Furnace, it was a major supplier of iron for Confederate ordnance. Remains of the old furnaces are located 12 miles south of Bessemer off Interstate 59/Interstate 20. Photo credit: Carol M. Highsmith |
The marker on the left has signs about these three furnaces being historical landmarks. One states that it was "the birthplace of the Birmingham Iron Industry."
"Trees on the hillsides were felled to be made into charcoal that fed the huge blast furnaces. [Coke made from coal was not used until the latter half of the 1800s.] Roupes Creek and a mighty steam engine powered the blowing machines to heat the fires that melted ore to be formed into “pigs” of iron which, in turn, formed the tools of war for the Confederacy. At the height of production Tannehill could turn out 22 tons of iron a day. The iron was cast into ordnance, skillets, pots and ovens for the Southern army." It seized production on Mar 31, 1865, when the Union Army destroyed it. [
TannehillStatePark]
Grist Mill
I could not find any interior photos of the mill.
Museum
I'm glad they included the belts as well as the
line shafts.
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| Digitally Zoomed |
The blast furnaces were made with cut sandstone.
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| Digitally Zoomed |
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