Sloss Furnaces!

What Are the Sloss Furnaces?

This is America’s only 20th-century blast furnace that’s been preserved and interpreted as a historic industrial site!

What Makes Them Historical?

After the devastation of the Civil War, the South needed new ways of rebuilding the economy, and here in the Jones Valley, there just so happened to be all the makings of iron in a 30-mile radius! These resources led to the founding of Birmingham in 1871, and one of its cofounders, Colonel James Sloss also opened up the Sloss Furnace Company in 1880!

In April of 1882, the two blowing engines and ten boilers went to blast and within a year had already sold 24,000 tons of pig iron! (Pig iron gets its name because the molten metal gets poured into little bars in the ground that look like piglets.) The company won an award at the Louisville Exposition in 1883, and then, only three years later, Colonel Sloss retired!

Over the next 13 years, the company grew rapidly, fueled by mostly Black convict labor, and reorganized as Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron in 1899, becoming one of the largest producers of pig iron in the world by World War I! The furnaces kept roaring through World War II all the way until the furnaces closed in 1970! Today, this is a place to learn about the history of iron in Birmingham, take classes in metal work and art, and enjoy a concert or festival under the dramatic backdrop of the old furnaces!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Become a member of Sloss Furnaces!
Donate to Sloss Metal Arts!
Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!