Lone Pine Mine 3 is significant as a representative property of the iron industry on which the City of Birmingham was founded in The region is one of the only places in the world where one can find the ingredients necessary to create iron: iron ore, limestone, and coal all exist in abundance within a few square miles. Founded in order to take advantage of this geological rarity, Birmingham quickly earned a reputation for iron making, and by the middle of the century, was the third largest producer of hematite iron ore in the United States.1 When Vulcan Park was first created in the stone walls and walkways were added throughout, including up to the entrance to the mine, making it an exceptionally beautiful location for a former industrial site.
The mine is unique, in that it is the only iron ore mine in the area that has been made into an exhibit with interpretive signage, and original and replica tools and artifacts to help visitors get an idea of what mining was like at the turn of the century in Birmingham and have an immersive experience. Description: Lone Pine Mine 3 is located along the northern slope of Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama. It is a small mine, comparatively. At its largest point, the opening to LPM is approximately 95" x 92" and the interior cavern that is currently accessible is approximately 50' x The interior walls and floor of the mine consist of iron ore and dirt.
When the mine first opened, the landscape was bleak, as the mountain had been deforested to better enable mining of iron ore along the Big Seam, a thick layer of red ore formed during the Silurian period. It was mostly red dirt, and mud when it rained, which eventually led to the introduction of invasive species like kudzu and bamboo to help with erosion. As years went on, and mining was abandoned along this portion of the mountain, different species of plants and animals thrived, creating a very different landscape to what was in existence earlier. Today, along the trail that is a former railroad bed, oak trees are in abundance, along with many native shrubs like buckeye, trillium, and oakleaf hydrangea. 1 Jack R Bergstresser, Senior. Red Mountain Iron Ore Mining: HAER No.
AL-25 (Washington: National Park Service, 1 LONE PINE MINE 3 HALS NO. AL-8 PAGE 2 In the workers with the Works Progress Administration used locally sourced stone to beautify the walkway and walls leading up to the mine in conjunction with the creation of Vulcan Park. This stonework still exists and has been enhanced in recent years by trimming back much overgrowth and planting shrubbery that is regularly tended to in order to keep the mine visible. There is a walkway leading from the mine entrance to what was the Birmingham Mineral Railroad, now Kiwanis Vulcan Trail. In the trail was extended, linking Vulcan Park to Green Spring s Highway along the 2.2-mile trail. Since the trail was once the bed of the railroad, it is wide, relatively flat, and easy to traverse.
The trail is laid with pavement and crushed stone and is handicap accessible from a small parking lot connected to the northern portion of Vulcan Park near Lone Pine Mine. Beginning in renovations were done to open the mine and a gate was added along with interpretive exhibit text panels and artifacts. History: Lone Pine Mine 3 is one of over 100 mines along Red Mountain. It was first opened in to extract red iron ore for use in Birmingham s iron furnaces and factories.2 Lone Pine Mine is so named for nearby Lone Pine Gap, a thoroughfare between Jones Valley and Shades Valley on Red Mountain. The gap was at one time part of the Birmingham Mineral Railroad, which supplied minerals to Birmingham s iron furnaces and factories.
The city of Birmingham would not exist if not for the discovery of the minerals used to create iron. Although the city wasn t founded until iron ore from Red Mountain was first used to smelt iron in the initiated by Baylis Grace, a circuit court clerk and county sheriff, whose home happened to be built on top of the iron ore seam. Grace sent a load of ore via horse drawn wagon to a furnace in Bibb County, where it was made into bars and deemed to be high quality.3 In he then sold the property, making the first commercial sale of iron ore for manufacturing purposes in the area.4 Once word spread about this high-quality ore located near limestone and coal deposits, interest in the area grew as more and more businesspeople decided to capitalize on iron making.
Once the Civil War ended, industrialists were able to focus on creating a new city, and in December Birmingham was founded. The new town struggled for a few years, mainly when citizens fled due to the outbreak of cholera in But, the population rebounded, with an increase to over in and over by Birmingham s reputation for iron making grew so much that even President William Taft himself called Birmingham the Pittsburg of the South 2 Clemmons, Avery H. Reed, and Thoenen.
The Future of Birmingham Red Iron Ore Jefferson County, ALA (Washington: Government Printing Office, 3 3 John Witherspoon DuBose, Jefferson County and Birmingham Alabama: Historical and Biographical, (Birmingham, Teeple & Smith Publishers, 70 4 Marjorie Longenecker White, The Birmingham District: An Industrial History and Guide (Birmingham, Birmingham Publishing Company, 195 5 Government Documents: Birmingham s Population. Birmingham Public Library, Accessed July 20, LONE PINE MINE 3 HALS NO. AL-8 PAGE 3 in a speech in The iron industry in Birmingham only increased through the years up until The Great Depression, but quickly rebounded after the outbreak of WWII, when it reached its peak.
The Lone Pine Mine property was owned by Tennessee, Coal, and Iron (TCI), and most TCI mines on Red Mountain were operated under the caption of the Smith and Robinson Mining Company.7 The mine produced percent soft red iron from the Big Seam. Its yield was not prolific, and so it remained open for only a few years, closing in with testing of the quality of iron completed in and but never officially reopening for full scale mining. 8 The property was gifted to the City of Birmingham in in order to create Vulcan Park, home to the world s largest cast iron statue.
9 Funds were secured by the city through the Works Progress Administration to take the acres and create a site suitable for the statue of Vulcan, the masterwork of Giuseppe Moretti, made to represent Birmingham and the entire state of Alabama at the St. Louis World s Fair. The park was finished and officially opened in with a 9-day celebration which included performances from a cast of over actors portraying the story of Vulcan and Alabama.10 The Vulcan statue is listed on the National Register of Historic American Places. Although many ideas were proposed throughout the years after the opening of the park, LPM remained ignored and neglected for most of its lifespan. The opening was accessible for anyone to enter until when a cave-in happened during park renovations.
Several hundred cubic feet of concrete was pumped into the mine and the entrance was closed up with cinder blocks for safety purposes.11 After this, weeds, vines, and other plants were allowed to grow unmitigated, and for decades the mine was mostly forgotten. Occasionally, proposals would be made to utilize the mine as an attraction or educational site for the Park, including the center for a Disney style ride. In Bhate Geosciences Corporation completed an analysis in consideration of an amusement ride, removing a small portion of the cinderblock at the opening to insert a camera and analyze the interior of the mine. This analysis did not result in any changes, and the opening was reclosed with masonry bricks.
In a different firm, Gresham, Smith, and Partners completed a visioning study to identify and 6 The Week in Birmingham History: Taft Calls Magic City Pittsburg of the South . AL.com. Accessed July 20, 7 Description of Plants and Mines with Illustrtaions, Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company. (New York: Isaac H. Blanchard Company, 8 Clemmons, Avery H. Reed, and Thoenen. The Future of Birmingham Red Iron Ore Jefferson County, ALA (Washington: Government Printing Office, 3 9 Resolution, Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Park and Recreation Board of the City of Birmingham, Alabama, Wednesday, January 8, AM. Bplonline.org.
Birmingham Public Library Birmingham, AL 10 Vulcan Rises from the Cinders to Peak Above Birmingham , Christian Science Monitor, May 12, Accessed 11 Matthew Kierstead. Vulcan Statue and Park: HAER No. AL-29. (Washington: Historic American Engineering Record, 41 LONE PINE MINE 3 HALS NO. AL-8 PAGE 4 explore ideas for adapting and utilizing the mine. Once again, this study did not result in any changes, and the mine was ignored for another five years. Finally, in the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham raised over $6 million to improve Vulcan Park and the walking trail that was once the bed of the Birmingham Mineral Railroad.
Kiwanis added onto Vulcan Park, creating a plaza on the northern side, adding a fountain, and providing landscaping for the park near the opening to In partnership with Freshwater Land Trust, Kiwanis also lengthened Vulcan Trail to 2.2 miles, connecting Vulcan Park with Green Springs Highway.12 Pavement was added to each end, along with crushed stone in the middle section to make the trail more traversable. It is handicap accessible via a small parking lot on the northern slope of Vulcan Park. The walking trail proved to be very popular and the project reinvigorated interest in the mine and its value to Birmingham s history. Vulcan Park staff became ever more serious about utilizing the mine for educational purposes and seeking funding to do so.
Support was secured from the Alabama Historical Commission, Alabama Power Company Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, Daniel Foundation, Joseph S. Bruno Foundation, Stone Building Company, and Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust to open a mine exhibit, clear debris inside, purchase original and replica tools and artifacts, and display interpretive signage to educate Park visitors on the history of the mine and the mining industry. In landscape architects Nimrod Long and Associates were hired to design plans for visitor access to the mine including a secure viewing portal, lighting and interpretive signage.
On December 2, staff from Stone Building began demolition of the brick at the opening to the mine and quickly realized that more debris had fallen than expected, around 5' worth of rock and dirt just on the other side of the brick doorway. This was much more work than originally planned for and delayed progress. By January 7, most of the debris had been removed and a bat-bar gate was installed at the opening along with large timbers to hold up a mesh-top safety barrier to prevent injury in the case of rock fall. After more than 4 months of work and a cost of over the mine officially reopened in April of and proved to be a popular spot in the park, as many are fascinated by the history of mining and industry in the area.
In self-taught local historian, Jeff Newman, secured a 900-pound mining cart frame from Cowin & Company, Inc. Mining Engineers and Contractors, and took it upon himself to restore the cart to its original historic look. Newman had the forethought to refurbish the cart on top of a heavy duty trailer, and once 12 Now Open: Kiwanis Vulcan Trail , Fresh Water Land Trust, freshwaterlandtrust.org, Accessed July 20, LONE PINE MINE 3 HALS NO. AL-8 PAGE 5 finished was able to drive it to the Park. On March employees from CraneWorks of Birmingham brought a 150 ton crane and lifted the cart from the trailer to just in front of the mine entrance. Staff from Stone Building Company then helped to push the cart into the mine and place it on rails that had been laid down previously.
Staff then filled the cart with large pieces of iron ore, rearranged the tools and artifacts, and the exhibit was complete. The project resulted in over in donated work hours. Since reopening, the mine exhibit has proved to be a draw for locals and visitors alike, in addition to serving as a valuable teaching tool for students visiting on fieldtrips. Timeline: Mine is opened Mine is closed Testing done Testing done WPA stonework walls and walkway added leading up to entrance in conjunction with creation of Vulcan Park Vulcan Park opens to the public Mine entrance closed with cinderblocks after partial collapse of mine Small portion of cinderblock at opening is removed to insert a manually guided roving device with camera in order to photograph interior of mine.
Hole is repaired with rock Visioning study completed by Gresham, Smith, and Partners to identify and explore ideas for adapting and utilizing mine Removal of overgrowth and landscaping completed to highlight the mine and WPA stonework in conjunction with Kiwanis Club of Birmingham s centennial project Design for secure viewing portal for visitors, lighting and signage completed by Nimrod Long and Associates, Inc.; Demolition of cinderblock wall, construction begins to visually reopen the mine to the public Mine exhibit officially reopened. Gate installed at entrance, interpretive text panels, original and replica items installed inside and outside mine Refurbished mine cart installed inside mine entrance
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