during the same year Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, a young
Pennsylvania iron-master, Joseph Heslip, built the first blast
furnace in Alabama near Russellville in Franklin County.
years before statehood, construction of the furnace followed
increased interest in southern iron manufacturing on the heels of
the War of 1812.
plant was a frontier type operation which included a rough stone
furnace, forge, foundry and a makeshift rolling mill. The furnace
stood 25 feet tall with a short smoke stack. Its blast was created
by a leather bellows operated by a water wheel.
operated the plant until 1820 when an outbreak of cholera resulted in a shutdown and
was finally abandoned in 1827. Brown ore from the LaFayette
Formation was found at the site. The
plant was an extension of the iron trade developed in Tennessee.