Tannehill Ironworks
Aug 13, 2011
Tannehill Ironworks
Newest Addition to the Arcadia "Images of America" series
Author: James R. Bennett
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Date: June 06, 2011
Edition: Illustrated
ISBN13: 9780738582412
This is a really fantastic look into history - I love photographs of the past where you see a different world than today’s. There are over 200 vintage images in this slim novel covering the life of the Tannehill Ironworks outside of Birmingham, Alabama.
From the Press Release:
When cotton was king and Jackson was president, Daniel Hillman built a bloomery forge on Roupes Creek near the Jefferson and Tuscaloosa County line. As the birthplace of the Birmingham Iron and Steel District, the forge grew into an important battery of three blast furnaces capable of producing 22 tons of iron daily for Confederate munitions. The Tannehill Furnaces--the handiwork of Moses Stroup, one of the South's leading ironmasters--are among the best preserved 19th-century ironworks in America. Along with the Iron and Steel Museum of Alabama, the furnace ruins form the centerpiece of Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park, which attracts 400,000 visitors annually. It is Alabama's most visited Civil War site.
The photographs range from 1860 to the present and show how the world was, and how even a small mining “town” had to change to keep up with the times. I love the pictures of school teachers and girls volleyball team in the 20s. Showing that this mining town did appreciate woman and felt the need to educate and stimulate them as well as the male miners.
The houses that certain employees were given, complete with furnishings, were houses I would live in today – so charming. (Yes, I do realize if I had looked out back it would be toward a mining pit..) I still don’t quite understand the pictures of tourists in the early part of the century, dressed in all their lovely clothes, getting their photographs taken in front of the pits though.
An altogether pleasing book showing a glimpse into our past. Part of the profits from the book will go to the Iron and Steel Museum in Alabama.
A nice book to add to your library.
