Among Alabama’s best preserved 19th
Century iron furnaces is the old Tannehill Ironworks
near Bucksville between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. It is the central
attraction at Tannehill Ironworks Historical State
The location is considered the
birthplace of the Birmingham Iron and Steel District. Beginning in
1830, Daniel Hillman built a bloomery forge here along the banks of
Roupes Creek. Moses Stroup, a noted Southern ironmaster, added a
blast furnace in 1859 and began construction of two others which
were completed by William L. Sanders in 1862 and 1863.
The only site in Alabama where three
iron furnaces stood side by side during the Civil War, Tannehill
(then known as the Roupes Valley Iron Company) supplied large
quantities of pig iron to the Confederacy which were cast into naval
plate and ordnance at the Selma Arsenal. Tannehill Furnaces 2 and 3
were equipped with hot blast and steam power and featured modern
technology for the period.
Experiments with red iron ore and
coke opened the door for location of charcoal blast furnaces in
neighboring Jefferson County and the later development of the
Birmingham iron industry.
Burnt during Croxton’s Raid March
31, 1865, the plant was never rebuilt but its ruins were reclaimed as
a state historical park in the early 1970s.
on the photo to enlarge
|The ROUPES VALLEY FURNACES at Tannehill could produce 22 tons of pig iron
daily. Furnace No. 1 was built in 1859 followed by Furnaces 2 and 3 in
1862 (Dennis Dease).