Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Coal Mining in Jefferson County
    Coal Mining in Jefferson County
    Coal Mining in Jefferson County
    Ebook146 pages32 minutes

    Coal Mining in Jefferson County

    By Staci Simon Glover

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Uniquely, Jefferson County had all of the elements necessary for the fabrication of iron and steel within its borders. Coal, limestone, and iron ore all lay within close proximity to Birmingham. The right amounts of business acumen, industrial planning, and labor force came together creating the industry that made Birmingham the "Magic City." The coal mining towns in the Birmingham Industrial District have rich histories--a Hollywood movie was made in one, a novel was written about another, and a soccer championship was won in yet another town. These coal towns and the miners who lived in them are as responsible as anyone for the birth of Birmingham industry.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439625521
    Coal Mining in Jefferson County
    Author

    Staci Simon Glover

    Brookside native and UAB history instructor Staci Simon Glover has created a compilation of photographs rarely seen. Using photographs from the Library of Congress, the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the Birmingham Public Library Archives, and private collections, Glover has painted a portrait of the coal towns and people on whose backs the iron and steel industry in Jefferson County was built. Though many of these towns no longer exist or do not exist in their previous form, they live again in these photographs.

    Related to Coal Mining in Jefferson County

    Related ebooks

    Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Land Records

      Apr 19, 2022

      Land Records
      1 min read

    • Article

      Land Records Glossary

      Apr 19, 2022

      • aliquot parts: In the Public Land or Rectangular Survey System, a description for an exact subdivision of a setion of land using directions and fractions, for example, “W ½ SE ¼” represents the west half of the southeast quarter of a section. • bou

      3 min read

    • Article

      These Honored Dead

      Apr 20, 2021

      These Honored Dead
      9 min read

    • Article

      Citing Land Records

      Apr 19, 2022

      Citing Land Records
      1 min read

    • Article

      Tracing ‘The Most Buried Man In The World’: John Paul Jones, Scotland And The Us

      Oct 7, 2023

      ‘Do you know who he is?’ I asked the middle-aged man standing in front of the statue of John Paul Jones, one ofWashington DC’s many monuments and memorials built to convey American national self-confidence. Not far from us on the National Mall stood

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Gentleman’s Magazine

      Feb 11, 2020

      From the 1730s to the 1830s the Gentleman’s Magazine provides us with an excellent way of confirming the births, marriages and deaths of middle-class and aristocratic families. The title also offers a fascinating insight into the world of 200–250 yea

      3 min read

    • Article

      Deep Ellum Clues

      Nov 25, 2021

      Deep Ellum Clues
      8 min read

    • Article

      Nothing But the Truth

      Apr 19, 2022

      Nothing But the Truth
      10 min read

    • Article

      Find Your U.S. Ancestors

      Apr 19, 2022

      Find Your U.S. Ancestors
      1 min read

    • Article

      West Virginia

      Apr 21, 2020

      West Virginia
      5 min read

    • Article

      Us Territorial Acquisitions

      Apr 19, 2022

      Us Territorial Acquisitions
      1 min read

    • Article

      Facing Off With The Flivver

      Jul 9, 2019

      Henry Ford was notoriously reluctant to change the Model T, his “Universal Car,” which he felt was more than adequate for the transportation needs of America and the world. Dissent on this point was treated harshly. According to Ford biographer Rober

      4 min read

    • Article

      Public Lands

      Apr 19, 2022

      Public Lands
      2 min read

    • Article

      Love AND Marriage

      May 4, 2021

      Love AND Marriage
      5 min read

    • Article

      Records Quick Guide

      Oct 19, 2021

      Records Quick Guide
      2 min read

    • Article

      SCOTTISH Census Records

      Dec 21, 2021

      SCOTTISH Census Records
      1 min read

    • Article

      CELEBRATING our Shared Roots

      Jul 15, 2022

      CELEBRATING our Shared Roots
      7 min read

    • Article

      Equality On The Plains

      Oct 1, 2019

      Equality On The Plains
      4 min read

    • Article

      Celebrating Black History on Staten Island

      Apr 1, 2020

      Celebrating Black History on Staten Island
      2 min read

    • Article

      Frio Town, Texas

      Sep 24, 2019

      Frio Town, Texas
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Coal Mining in Jefferson County

    3/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Coal Mining in Jefferson County - Staci Simon Glover

      collections.

      INTRODUCTION

      Jefferson County, Alabama, was an agricultural outpost for Native Americans and yeomen farmers in the early 19th century. Created by the state legislature, the county that would become the industrial hub for the state by the end of the 19th century was created on December 13, 1819, just one day before Alabama became a state. Until 1821, Carrollsville served as the county seat; it was then moved to Elyton, where it remained until 1873 when it was moved to its present location in Birmingham. Traditionally, Elyton served the Native American population as a trading center, and as whites settled the area, many of the county’s first settlers received land grants for their service in the War of 1812, many having fought with Andrew Jackson at Horseshoe Bend. The Tennessee Volunteers, led by Davey Crockett, traveled through the county, and impressed with the land they saw, many began to settle in the regions around Elyton, Pinson, Lipscomb, and Brookside.

      Situated at the end of the Appalachian Mountain Range, Jefferson County sat in the middle of Alabama’s hill country and had few plantations, as the soil types and hilly terrain were not favorable for planting cotton on a large scale. Those who settled the county primarily engaged in subsistence farming and a few owned slaves, though slave ownership was not practiced on a large scale. The county steadily grew an agricultural economy with crops such as wheat, corn, vegetables, and some cotton being marketed from small farms. Native Americans lived along the county’s riverbanks and creek banks, carving symbols along the rock faces. They planted large gardens along Five Mile Creek and developed systems of irrigation to harness the creek’s water to nourish their crops. Even today, when heavy rains wash over the creek’s banks, Native American artifacts such as pottery and arrowheads may be found. In 1830, Pres. Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which began the process of removing Native Americans from southern lands and placing them on reservations in the West. In 1838, the Cherokee began their march west with some 4,000 dying along the way. The Trail of Tears, as the march became known, passed through Jefferson County and future coal mining country. With Native Americans displaced, the county resumed its agricultural bent toward small family farms occupied by native-born whites.

      Though the Warrior Coal Field had been discovered in the early part of the century, coal veins remained relatively untapped until late in the century. During the Civil War, most of the South’s coal came from the mines of Jefferson County and the outlying Birmingham Industrial District. However, after the war’s conclusion, little emphasis was placed on coal mining as a key industry for immediate postwar economic development. After the founding of Birmingham, sitting along a transportation corridor that is still vital to the state’s economy today, the discovery of iron ore, coal, and limestone in close proximity to one another offered entrepreneurs an obvious opportunity for industrial investment. Men like Daniel Pratt, James W. Sloss, Henry Debardelaben, and Enoch Ensley incorporated companies, sought investors, and equipped their firms with the leading technology of the time. However, one serious issue may have left them scratching their heads.

      Industrialists seemed to have thought of everything from financing to new technology when setting up their businesses. However, they faced a predicament that they might not have expected: how to attract a labor force. The South after the Civil War was in need of recapitalizing, building up and modernizing, and being brought into an industrial economy. Many whites in Jefferson County still toiled as yeoman farmers, scratching out a living on small farms either as owners or as tenants. Industrialists believed erroneously that these men would be willing to put aside their farms and work for a steady wage in the coal and iron ore mines or in one of Birmingham’s iron foundries or steel mills. However, the agricultural clock—rising at

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1