Tennessee Coal & Iron Company, Ensley Works, West of residential & commercial districts, Birmingham

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER ALA,37-BIRM.V,16-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The U.S. Steel Ensley Works is bisected by AL also known as Birmingport Road, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama. The site is located immediately West of downtown Ensley, with Burlington Northern Railroad's tracks running length-wise adjacent to the site and the downtown Ensley area. The site is also bordered by Village Creek on the North end; by the Wylam community to the Southwest; and a combination of the Sherman Heights neighborhood and a mix of slag dumps, agriculture uses and undeveloped lands on the northwest side. Although access is currently restricted, Eastern access is available via the I- interchange at Street, with Street changing into AL Western access is available via AL

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER ALA,37-BIRM.V,16-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Builder/Architect/ Engineer: Multiple The Ensley steel mill is historically significant for a variety of "firsts" which occurred there. The first duplex steel in the United States was made here in So named because it was first produced in a Bessemer convertor then transferred to open hearth furnaces, the duplex process was later adopted widely at many major steel mills including the Duquense plant of U.S. Steel. This steel was made into the first railroad rails produced from the open hearth process in the United States. The Ensley open hearths were also some of TENNESSEE COAL & IRON CO., ENSLEY WORKS HAER No. AL-52 (Page 2) the first tilting open hearths employed in the United States.

While these features make the site nationally significant, historically, the blast furnace plant is also important. These furnaces were the first blast furnaces in the District to produce basic iron on a large scale and the product was so competitive that it was sold to the Carnegie Steel Company for their steel furnaces in Pittsburgh. Since they were used to make basic pig iron from Red Mountain ore, in contrast to most other furnaces in the District which produced foundry iron, they developed a body of practice and design that was different from their local counterparts as well as the basic iron blast furnaces from other regions. While the differences were subtle, they were substantive and by the time the plant was acquired by U.S.

Steel, it had become a basis of comparison with furnace design in other regions. Several technical reports issued by U.S. Steel show the designs of the Ensley furnaces alongside such notable blast furnaces as those at South Chicago, Edgar Thompson and Duquesne. When the thin-walled furnace design was introduced from Germany, U.S. Steel rebuilt one of the Ensley furnaces to these specifications making it an important prototype for the corporation. TENNESSEE COAL & IRON CO., ENSLEY WORKS HAER No. AL-52 (Page 3)

Description

The majority of site buildings and railroad tracks once associated with the Ensley steel mill and blast furnace plant have been demolished and removed.

Remaining structures include: 1) the remaining exhaust stack of the open hearth furnace and two metal ladle structures on the south side of the overpass; 2) two red mill buildings from which some salvage operation activity remains on the northwest side of the overpass; 3) three brick buildings on the south side of the overpass, which comprise the old electric power house and two former supply buildings; 4) the Don Drennen Overpass, on which AL 269 is situated as it crosses the site; 5) the old Sherman Heights Elementary School now used as a local community center; 6) other miscellaneous items, including retaining walls, foundations and portions of parking lots and railroad tracks. Buildings/Structures: Demolition of structures is an ongoing activity on the site.

Roads: The primary access road leading into the site from the Don Drennen Overpass, has been blocked to traffic by placement of a raised concrete slab at the entrance off the Overpass. The majority of roads and railroad tracks have been removed. Parking: Currently, the only accessible parking area in close proximity to the site occurs at the red old mill building, which is located on the northwest side of the Don Drennen Overpass, where salvage operation activity remains. Topography: The site is characterized by a ridge upon which the old Sherman Heights School (now the local community center) sits. This ridge runs northeast-southwest and parallel with the site.

The major operations of the site were situated in a gentle valley created by the ridge to the west and the City of Ensley, which is elevated above the site, to the east. This ridge diminishes to the northeast on its approach to Village Creek and also diminishes to the west and southwest of the site. Various retaining walls, terraces, and foundation are found on the site. Artificial influences on the site's natural topography are associated with the former iron and steel manufacturing operations. Most of these features were erected parallel to the ridge. TENNESSEE COAL & IRON CO., ENSLEY WORKS HAER No.

AL-52 (Page 4) Sources consulted Site Visits, Auburn University School of Architecture and Auburn Technical Assistance Center, Ensley Works Business Park Plans for Development, prepared for USX Realty Development, September Phillips William Battle. Iron Making in Alabama, by William Battle Phillips, Monograph No. 3, Alabama Geological Survey, Montgomery, Ala.: Jas. P. Armstrong, Bowron, James. "The Southern Iron and Steel Industry." Iron Age 94 (November Brassert, Herman A. "Modern American Blast Furnace Practice." Paper Presented at the annual meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute, New York, New York, 25 May, Crockard, "Progress in Steelmaking in Alabama." Iron Age 105 (December . "Five Years of Progress in Southern Blast-furnace Practice." TAIME, vol. Dodd, James Harvey.

A History of Production in the Iron and Steel Industry in the Southern Appalachian States, Nashville, Tenn.: Cullom and Ghertner Co., Fuller, Justin. "History of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company, Masters thesis, Emory University, Ledbetter, R. H. "Blast Furnace Practice in the Birmingham District." Iron Age 114 (Oct Longnecker, Charles. "The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company." Blast Furnace and Steel Plant 27 (August Tennessee Coal and Iron Div., U.S. Steel Corp. Biography of a Business. Tennessee Coal and Iron Div., U.S. Steel Corp., Steelmaking at Birmingham. Fairfield, Ala.: TCI, Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Co. Description of Plants and Mines. New York: Isaac H. Blanchard Co., . Mining and Steel-Making Methods in Alabama.

Birmingham: Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company,