Sloss Furnaces produced iron for nearly 90 years, which gave rise to the city of Birmingham. Now recognized as a National Historic Landmark, Sloss Furnaces with its web of pipes and tall smokestacks offers us a glimpse into the great industrial past of the South and our nation.

01.30.09 . . .

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Our ( eastern PA ) historic steel factory ( Bethleham steel) is now being turned into a Casino. Expecting 1,000 new jobs in the area. A move in the right direction.

Old mills are cool........funny there was one in Birmingham though.

That's pretty far from the "steel belt".

Jet......you would LOVE shooting some of the mills up here.

Old Industrial Factories are Cool . . .

Sloss was made in 1871, and is pretty much responsible for the growth of the south, with all the iron they produced . . .

Many men died at this place, and just walking thru the place is an OSHA night-mare . . .

Sloss Furnaces was featured on a show called Ghost Adventurers. 3 guys got locked up in there for the night and captured some weird **** on tape. Cool looking place.

Hey Andy Pittsburgh wasn't the only Steel town in America. From Wiki:

Birmingham was founded in 1871, just after the U.S. Civil War, as an industrial enterprise. It was named after Birmingham, one of the UK's major industrial cities. Through the middle of the 20th century, Birmingham was the primary industrial center of the Southern United States. The astonishing pace of Birmingham's growth through the turn of the century earned it the nicknames "The Magic City" and "The Pittsburgh of the South". Much like Pittsburgh in the north, Birmingham's major industries centered around iron and steel production.

I keep hearing about that TV show ... Not sure what they caught on tape, but several people have mentioned that show . . .

I went with a friend and his 11 y/o son, and we went exploring for the day ... It was a good road-trip over from Atlanta . . . So, we get to this one area, and Bill sees this stairwell into the dark and says, "Follow Me" . . . Well, we get to the bottom and it's pitch-black, I can't see squat, and they turn on their miner head-lamps and I still can't see because it's so dark ... So, Bill proceeds to tell me how 12 guys were down there below the steam turbine when a faulty valve broke loose and all 12 of them were scalded/boiled/melted to death, and as soon as he said that, I turned and started to climb the stairs ...

I hadn't gone more than two steps, and all of a sudden it felt like I was being pushed up the stairs ... Not with a hand, or forceful shove, but a steady increasing pressure ... It was a long climb and it took me no effort to get to the top, as it should have as I was tired and my knees start to feel it after a long day exploring a site ...

I got to the top of the stairs and I told them that I felt like had been pushed ... It was odd . . .

Birmingham is the only location in the world that contains all three resources necessary for iron production in one location. Red Mountain, just south of Sloss Furnaces, contains iron ore, coal and limestone. Birmingham would have been developed into an industrial city much earlier, but it is lacking a major river or waterway that was necessary at that time,for transportation of the finished goods.

There is a wonderful museum located adjacent to the Vulcan Statue that explains and explores the development of Birmingham.

Jet - when you come to my backyard, you need to call so we can share a smoke. I'm sure there are other BOTL in B'ham as well.

Eric

I didn't know you were in BHM ... I went and saw the Vulcan Statue, too . . . That's a neat story unto it's self . . .

I thought for sure someone would have commented on my "experience" . . .

i LOVE LOCAL HISTORY..

Yeah the Ghost Adventures show was cool. Not because the guys who host it, but because the Sloss furnaces were bad ass.

I live in Birmingham. I can remember when the Steal Mills were running full force. It seemed there was never more than a half mile visibility. Thats why its more common name is "Smoke City". Turn on a CB radio and you will hear it addressed as such. I remember seeing a newspaper article while doing research at the Birmingham Library. It was from a Tuscaloosa newspaper stating that Birmingham would never amount to anything because it was so far from Tuscaloosa. One thing I can say, this is an interesting city if one takes the time to slow down and enjoy it.

Side

It's a pretty city, I'll say that . . .

Hey Jet... what'd you use to shoot this with?

I'm looking for a good starter SLR... any recomendations?

- J