Steel Industry in Alabama

The steel industry in Alabama grew around Birmingham, where iron ore, coal, limestone and dolomite lay close together, giving the district some of the lowest raw-material assembly costs in the United States [1]. In the last two decades of the nineteenth century it grew about as fast as Pittsburgh and Chicago.

Companies

Four major iron makers dominated: Woodward Iron, Sloss Sheffield Steel and Iron, Thomas Works and the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company (TCI). Woodward Iron’s holdings were linked by a 12-mile railroad connecting its furnaces, quarries and mines. TCI operated what was described as the largest underground iron-mining complex in the United States, with four Red Mountain mines, and built the nation’s first large-scale duplex mill combining Bessemer converters and open-hearth furnaces [1].

Consolidation and output

Early in the twentieth century Republic Steel bought Thomas and U.S. Steel acquired TCI, later building the Fairfield Works to complement TCI’s Ensley operation. Birmingham became the nation’s largest foundry iron producer, supplying about one-fourth of the nation’s foundry iron by the 1920s, and was the largest steelmaker in the Southeast [1].

Decline

In the early 1970s the foundry iron furnaces and their mines shut down because of air-quality rules, foreign competition and ductile iron made from scrap. Birmingham remains an important steel producer [1]. See Economy of Alabama and Vulcan Statue.

Foundry iron and TCI

Birmingham owes its 1871 founding to the unusual Jones Valley deposits of coal, iron ore and limestone. Sloss and Woodward merchant furnaces made foundry iron for sale, making Birmingham the nation’s largest foundry iron producer, and Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad made high-grade iron and steel and built the Ensley steelworks. U.S. Steel acquired TCI and built Fairfield Works to complement Ensley.[2]

Scale and decline

By the 1920s the district made one fourth of the nation’s foundry iron and was the Southeast’s largest steelmaker. Air-quality rules, foreign competition and ductile iron made from scrap led to the early-1970s shutdown of foundry furnaces and their mines, though Birmingham remains an important steel producer. Tannehill Ironworks, founded in 1830, expanded during the Civil War.[2]

FAQs

Why Birmingham? Ore, coal and limestone were close together.

Who bought TCI? U.S. Steel.

Sources

1. Encyclopedia of Alabama: Iron and Steel Production in Birmingham
2. Encyclopedia of Alabama: Iron and Steel Production in Birmingham

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 10, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue