The Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama

In the 19th and 20th centuries Birmingham, Alabama provided tons of Pig Iron and Steel for companies across America.

Sloss Furnaces

National Historic Landmark

Colonel James Withers Sloss established the Sloss Furnace Company in 1881 and operated from 1882 to 1972.  This plant became a major producer of Pig Iron.

Sloss Furnaces' innovation and industrial output earned its acceptance to the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.  

It is the only 20th-century blast furnace in the United States that has been preserved and is available for the public to tour.

Sloss Furnaces provides information

about the Furnaces,  displays Sloss 

Metal Artwork, houses its Museum,

& hosts programs on the property.

Visitors can take Self-Guided Tours.   Staff Guided Tours are scheduled before visits and do have a small fee.

Cast Shed No. 2 has

been repurposed.

Sloss Metal Arts' artists 

have workspace here.

I find this piece created

 with found objects.

Sloss Boilers generated the

steam used to power the

Furnaces.

Alabama used its Jim Crow Laws to allow local governments to sell convicted Black Men to private businesses.  Sloss Furnaces used "leased convict laborers" to work in the Coalburg and Brookside Mines.  One hundred of these disposable workers died on the job at Coalburg.

It is said that Sloss Furnaces is haunted.  Conditions in the 1800s were brutal and dangerous. There were no Labor Laws limiting shifts to eight hours, no overtime, no mandated lunchtime, no 15-minute work breaks, no mandated Safety Equipment...  

Hundreds of workers died here.  Some visitors have heard voices or seen shadowy figures during tours of the plant.  Ghost Hunters have set up equipment and some claim to have confirmed the visitors' experiences.

This is one of the Ladle Cars

that transported molten

metal on rail steel rails

in the plant.

The Sloss Water Tower

The Pyrometer House has

equipment to measure

furnace temperatures &

 a plant repair shop.

Eric & the giant industrial plant.

Touring Sloss Furnaces with a camera encourages me to think about how lighting affects my pictures.  Charles Sheeler painted and photographed industrial scenes.  Ralston Crawford's paintings focused on the sharp lines in industrial-themed works.

Hot Blast Stoves heated the air

before it was pumped into the

furnaces.

The Sloss Furnaces were used as a filming location for the 2024 film Gunner.  

The Blowing Engine Building 

has two Ingersoll-Rand Turbo

Blowers to compress air for

the Iron Making process.

They were added to the plant in 1949 and 1951, replacing all eight original Blowing Engines.

Eric at the top of the stairs at

No. 1 Furnace.

It is the original Sloss Furnace,

built in 1882.

The Spray Pond used 5 million 

gallons of water per furnace each 

day to cool the furnaces, create 

steam, power machinery, &

cool molten Iron & Slag.

Eric walks toward the Steam

 Shovel at the Slag Pit,

 where the waste from Iron

Making was flushed from

Furnaces.

When I see the Steam Shovel, 

all I can think of is the book, 

Are You My Mother?

I love finding Artwork

while touring Sloss

Furnaces.

The Historic Bath House

After 12-hour shifts at the 

Furnaces, workers needed

to clean up.

Eric and I loved our time at Sloss Furnaces.   This unique National Landmark is a cultural treasure.