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Tannehill Ironworks
Historical State Park
Article by Thomas J. Straka
Photographs by Patricia A. Straka
There are lots of historical jewels scattered just off the
interstates. Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park is
one of them, located near Interstates 20-59-459 between
Birmingham and Tuscaloosa in Alabama. The park has all the
attractions you'd expect at a 1,500 acre state park. Don't
just think ironworks; think also of a pioneer farm, grist
mill, cotton gin, country store, sweet shoppe, craftsmen,
blacksmith, hiking, camping, and outdoor recreation.
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The restored Furnace at Tannehill Ironworks. |
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Tending the furnace was very hot and
very
hard work. |
The ironworks data back to 1830. Daniel Hillman, an iron
maker who learned his skills in southwestern Pennsylvania,
constructed a bloomery forge on Roupes Creek. It was a small
operation that is credited as the birthplace of the
Birmingham iron industry. It produced only 300 pounds per
day, supplying the market from present day Birmingham to
Tuscaloosa. The forge became part of the Tannehill
Plantation. Tannehill brought in Moses Stroup, perhaps the
leading iron maker in the South, to add a blast furnace. In
1857 Tannehill sold the forge to John Alexander, a friend of
Stoup's, who had the financing to complete the blast
furnace. By 1858-1859 the operation was producing 6-8 tons
per day. The Civil War increased demand for iron and the
Confederate government financed two additional furnaces to
meet military needs.
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The museum is broken into segments highlighting
various
technologies, processes, or histories.
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At the end of the Civil War Alabama produced 70% of the
South's iron output, most of it going to Confederate Gun
Works in Selma. At its height of production Tannehill
produced 22 tons per day. The iron was cast into ordinance,
skillets, pots and ovens for the Confederate army. The North
realized this industry would hasten the war's end. Selma was
second to Richmond as the South's manufacturing center.
General James H. Wilson was selected to lead the largest
cavalry raid of the Civil War to destroy the coal mines,
ironworks, and war industry of Central Alabama. Wilson had
nearly 13,500 troops and most of the southern resistance had
moved east to counter Sherman's March to the Sea. General
Nathan Bedford Forrest's 5,000 man cavalry attempted to
block the raid that began March 22, 1865, but most all of
Alabama's war industry was destroyed. On March 31, 1865
three companies of the Eighth Iowa cavalry struck Tannehill.
At day's end the furnaces were no longer operational and the
foundry, tannery, gristmill, and warehouses were in ruins.
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The tool area, most everything is belt-driven and
very old. |
After the Civil War attempts to rebuild the furnace failed
and the areas was used to mine ores. Locals used the furnace
site as an attractive recreation area with significant
historical interest. In 1976 interest developed to rebuild
the furnace around a state park complex as part of the
Bicentennial Celebration. Furnace No. 1 was rebuilt and
refired to produce 2 � tons of pig iron for the first time
in 111 years. Today it is the center of a magnificent` state
park.
The park also contains the 13,000 square foot Iron and Steel
Museum of Alabama that chronicles the iron and steel
industry in Alabama from its beginning to the present day.
The early ironwork at Tannehill gave rise to the Birmingham
Iron and Steel District, driving Alabama industry and the
growth of the Birmingham area.
Exhibits focus on the tools, technologies, and
processes of iron-making and related industries beginning in
the nineteenth century. Attractions include a mid-1800
machine shop, original parts of the Six Mile Bloomery Forge
dating to the 1830's, a Civil War collection, a history of
the Birmingham cast iron pipe industry, and hundreds of
other historical items relating to Alabama's iron and steel
industry. Unexpected exhibits are included on topics like
geology, furnace fuels, and one of the oldest steam engines
in America.
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A wild camera shot to show the expanse of the
museum. It is easy to spend hours in the large
museum. |
What makes this park a gem is the variety of activities and
attractions that are spread over a huge park. The trail
system connects it all, in a wonderful meandering way, as
two creeks intersect in the park and actually control the
patterns of things. There is a pioneer farm that is a
collection of 19th and 20th century
farm buildings, including the blacksmith's shop. There are
craft cabins located on a plank road. They are open weekends
from March to November. Artisans produce pottery, quilts,
cane chairs, and art work. Visitors are welcome inside the
cabins: Dunkin House (1871), Wendell Stewart House (1877),
Stamps Cabin (1870), Crocker House (1884), and the Gott
House, built by noted Appalachian Mountain cabin builder
Peter Gott as part the "Alabama Reunion" in 1989.
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An overhead shot of the museum |
With around 50 historic buildings in the park, it seems like
there is a "discovery" around every corner of the trail. The
John Wesley Hall Grist Mill and Cotton Gin operated at this
site from 1867 to 1931. It was the successor to one of
Alabama's earliest grist mills located a mile west on Mill
Creek. The original mill was torched by federal troops
during the Civil War. Hall's Mill was rebuilt in 1976 and
today grinds out the corn meal sold in the country store.
The grist mill dam is an interesting spot due to the
Tapawingo Iron Truss Bridge (1903). The May Plantation Gin
House dates to 1858. It houses cotton ginning equipment,
including a rare 1881 Gullette gin head with feeder and
condenser. The gin house utilized mules or horses to turn
its machinery beneath the structure. The park's headquarters
and welcome center is the 1879 Edwards House, once the home
of one of Trussville's first physicians. Abandoned for many
years as a ghost house along Highway 11, it was moved into
the park in 1993 and fully restored. The collection of
restored cabins and buildings makes the visit seem like
stepping back in time.
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The Blacksmith Shop. |
Not everything is historical. There is a miniature railway
for the kids with over a mile of track. The train features
an 1800's style engine and riding cars. The two creeks
provide fishing.
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| The Grist Mill |
The park is a small community. There are a few of the cabins
for rent, but most of the "community" are
campers. There
are 195 improved campsites that handle trailers "large and
small," plus another 100 primitive camp sites. The park has
a full schedule of events throughout the year and if often
full for prime events, like Halloween or Trade Days. The
third weekend each month (Mar. – Nov.) is Trade Days when
shoppers and swappers come in search of tools, clothing,
jewelry, knives, furniture, and other treasures. There is a
dulcimer festival each year, a Civil War reenactment, a
woodcarving show, a gem/mineral/jewelry show, and lots of
educational programs.
On Labor Day the park hosts Alabama's largest moon
pie eating contest. There is a Fall Festival in the Pines
that showcases the Southeast's finest artists and crafters.
Plus, Halloween and Christmas are special with the whole
park taking on the theme. We happened to stop at Halloween
and by custom the entire camping area was decked out in a
wonderful scary lightshow. Each camper was trying to outdo
the next.
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The campground at Halloween. Daylight does not
do it justice. |
The park's trails are intertwined with historic buildings
and cabins. Creeks wind through the park breaking it into
sections. The trail system combines it all into a
fascinating pattern of history, entertainment, and
community. This is a state park well worth the stop and just
a few miles off the Interstate.
Authors:
Tom Straka is a forestry professor at Clemson University in
south Carolina. His wife, Pat, is a consulting forester.
Both have a keen interest in history.
For a Virtual
Personal Tour Any Where in The World
For books on
Tannehill Ironworks
For more information:
Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park
http://www.tannehill.org/
Iron and Steel Museum of Alabama:
http://www.tannehill.org/museum.html
Encyclopedia of Alabama: Iron and Steel Museum of Alabama:
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2513
Encyclopedia of Alabama: Tannehill Ironworks:
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1616
Encyclopedia of Alabama: Wilson's Raid:
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1375
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