Birmingham District

The Birmingham District is a geological area in the vicinity of Birmingham, Alabama, where the raw materials for making steel, limestone, iron ore, and coal are found together in abundance. The district includes Red Mountain, Jones Valley, and the Warrior and Cahaba coal fields in Central Alabama.

Industrial development

The industrial development of these resources began, in limited fashion, before the American Civil War (attracting the attention of Wilson's Raiders in the course of that conflict).

Beginning in 1871 with the founding of the City of Birmingham and the construction of the first blast furnaces, the development of the district enjoyed explosive growth, slowed only by a deficit of skilled labor and investment capital. This boom earned for Birmingham the nicknames "The Magic City" and "Pittsburgh of the South", and also spurred the growth of several independent industrial cities and dozens of company towns.

By the end of the 19th century, Birmingham was the third-largest exporter of pig iron in the world, producing 3/4 of United States exports. The region was also a major exporter of coal, and, as technology advanced, became a major steel producing district. With a few notable exceptions such as cast iron pipes and fittings, most of the district's economic output was in basic materials rather than in finished consumer products.

Documentation and preservation

As the steel-making industry has diminished in its economic importance to the district, many of the sites have been abandoned or dismantled. Preservationists are attempting to document and preserve the physical evidence of Birmingham's industrial history. In the spring of 1993 a large-scale survey was undertaken for the Birmingham Historical Society and the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record. The results of that survey were published in the book Birmingham Bound.

See also

References

  • Armes, Ethel (1910). The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. ISBN 0-912221-03-8.
  • Lewis, W. David (1994). Sloss Furnaces and the Rise of the Birmingham District: An Industrial Epic. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0708-7.
  • Morris, Philip; White, Marjorie Longenecker (1997). Birmingham Bound, An Atlas of the South's Premier Industrial Region. Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Historical Society. ISBN 0-943994-22-5.
  • White, Marjorie Longenecker (1981). The Birmingham District: An Industrial History and Guide. Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Historical Society. ISBN 0-943994-00-4.

External links

  • Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation, filed under Bessemer, Jefferson County, AL:
    • HAER No. AL-31, "Pullman Standard Company Plant", 1 photo, 3 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-32, "United States Pipe & Foundry Company Plant", 18 photos, 2 color transparencies, 16 measured drawings, 42 data pages, 3 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-33-A, "F. S. Royster Guano Company, Plant", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-33-B, "F. S. Royster Guano Company, Shed", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-50, "Wenonah Headquarters Building", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-51, "Concord Mine", 5 photos, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-66, "Gibson Sheet Metal Works & Western Rope & Fittings, Incorporated", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-90, "Muscoda Red Ore Mining Community", 3 photos, 6 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-93, "Worker Houses", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-94, "Black Worker Houses", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-95, "Company School for Blacks", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-96, "Company School for Whites", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-98, "New Village Worker Houses", 1 photo, 1 color transparency, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-125, "Southern Ductile Casting Company, Bessemer Foundry", 5 photos, 9 measured drawings, 49 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-125-A, "Southern Ductile Casting Company, Melting", 12 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-125 B, "Southern Ductile Casting Company, Mold Making", 4 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-125-C, "Southern Ductile Casting Company, Core Making", 10 photos, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-125-D, "Southern Ductile Casting Company, Casting", 15 photos, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-125-E, "Southern Ductile Casting Company, Shaking, Degating, and Sand Systems", 5 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-125-F, "Southern Ductile Casting Company, Grinding and Shipping", 3 photos, 1 photo caption page
  • HAER documentation, filed under Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL:
    • HAER No. AL-11, "Birmingham District Railroads", 2 measured drawings, 73 data pages
    • HAER No. AL-13, "Hardie-Tynes Manufacturing Company", 19 photos, 5 measured drawings, 30 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-45, "Valley View Red Ore Mine", 2 photos, 13 data pages
    • HAER No. AL-49, "Stockham Pipe & Fittings Company", 30 photos, 9 measured drawings, 37 data pages, 5 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-55, "Republic Steel, Spaulding Red Ore Mine (Ruins)", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-56, "Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company Coke Works-North Birmingham", 5 photos, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-57, "Railroad Reservation", 3 photos, 3 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-67, "East Thomas-Frisco Railroad Yards", 4 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-68, "Twentieth Street Underpass", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-69-A, "Lawler Machine & Foundry Company", 10 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-80-A, "Pratt Coal & Coke Company, Pratt Mines, Coke Ovens & Railroad", 2 photos, 5 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-80-B, "Pratt Coal & Coke Company, Pratt Mines, Tailings Pile", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-80-C, "Pratt Coal & Coke Company, Pratt Mines, Convict Cemetery", 1 photo, 4 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-86, "High Line Railroad", 11 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-105, "Birmingham Industrial District", 1 measured drawing, 90 data pages
    • HAER No. AL-109, "Pratt Mines, Fraternal Cemetery", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-119, "Ishkooda Community", 2 photos, 3 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-126, "U.S. Pipe Plant", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-135, "Birmingham (Commercial Streetscapes)", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
  • Other HAER documentation:
    • HAER No. AL-12, "Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad Bridge, Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, AL", 18 photos, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-14, "Thomas By-Product Coke Works, Thomas, Jefferson County, AL", 136 photos, 7 measured drawings, 41 data pages, 7 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-16, "Billy Gould Coal Mine and Coke Ovens, Helena, Shelby County, AL", 5 photos, 1 measured drawing, 12 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-21, "Empire Coke Plant, Holt, Tuscaloosa County, AL", 10 photos, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-24, "Frisco Tunnel, Dora, Walker County, AL", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-34, "Wade Sand & Gravel Company, Thomas, Jefferson County, AL", 5 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-40, "Norris Steam Restoration Shop, Irondale, Jefferson County, AL", 2 photos, 2 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-43, "Warrior River, Lock No. 3 Wall, Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County, AL", 2 photos, 5 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-46, "United States Nitrate Plant No. 2, Muscle Shoals, Colbert County, AL", 74 photos, 7 measured drawings, 66 data pages, 6 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-62, "Linn Crossing Trestle Bridge, Linn Crossing, Jefferson County, AL", 1 photo, 2 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-63, "Louisville & Nashville Railway, Cahaba River Bridge, Helena, Shelby County, AL", 2 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-65, "Olon Belcher Lumber Mill, Brent, Bibb County, AL", 10 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-78, "Vulcan Material Company, Calera Quarry, Calera, Shelby County, AL", 2 photos, 1 color transparency, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-79, "Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated, Brookwood No. 5 Mine, Brookwood, Tuscaloosa County, AL", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-79-A, "Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated, Brookwood No. 5 Mine, Control Operations Room", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-81-A, "Louisville & Nashville Railway, Boyles Roundhouse, Tarrant City, Jefferson County, AL", 4 photos, 2 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-82, "Central Iron Foundry, Holt, Tuscaloosa County, AL", 8 photos, 5 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
    • HAER No. AL-82-A, "Central Iron Foundry, Hot Strip Mill Building", 8 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-82-B, "Central Iron Foundry, Plate Mill Building", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-87, "Warrior Southern Railway Bridge", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-108, "Alabama State Docks, Cordova, Walker County, AL", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-111, "214 Second Street (House), Thomas, Jefferson County, AL", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-112, "303 Third Street (House), Thomas, Jefferson County, AL", 6 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-113, "355 Third Street (House), Thomas, Jefferson County, AL", 7 photos, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-114, "219 Second Street (House), Thomas, Jefferson County, AL", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-115, "223 Second Street (House), Thomas, Jefferson County, AL", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-127, "Farrington Hall, Aldrich, Shelby County, AL", 1 photo, 3 data pages, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-128, "Superintendent's House, Aldrich, Shelby County, AL", 1 photo, 1 color transparency, 1 photo caption page
    • HAER No. AL-130, "Southern Ductile Casting Company, Centerville Foundry, Centreville, Bibb County, AL", 15 photos, 2 photo caption pages
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33°31′N 86°48′W / 33.517°N 86.800°W / 33.517; -86.800

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