USA > Alabama > Alabama history > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
CHAPTER XXX ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
I. Industrial Geography
1, Boundaries .- Alabama occupies a favorable geographical position. Its northern boundary juts against Tennessee; Georgia skirts its eastern limits, and Mississippi its western; Florida and the Gulf of Mexico bound it on the south.
2. Rivers .- The Tennessee river enters the north- eastern corner, and sweeps down through the rich, grain-producing counties of Jackson and Marshall, and runs along the borders of Madison, Morgan, Limestone, Lawrence, Colbert, and Lauderdale, pass- ing out in the extreme northwest on its voyage to the Ohio.
The Tombigbee enters from Mississippi on the west, a few miles below Columbus. On it float steamboats which carry to the beautiful Gulf port on Mobile Bay, the cotton and other agricultural products of Pickens, Sumter, Greene, Marengo, Choc- taw, western Clarke, and Washington counties. It is joined, just above Demopolis, by the Black War- rior, which brings barges of coal and vessels freighted with the products of farms from Hale, Tuskaloosa, and Greene counties.
The Alabama flows through the heart of the State. It bears the multiplied products of rich farms and thriving factories, and delivers to markets the immense cotton crops of Montgomery, Autauga,
[271]
272
ALABAMA HISTORY
Lowndes, Dallas, Wilcox, eastern Clarke, Monroe, and Baldwin counties. The Coosa extends several hundred miles to the northeast, and is fed by navi- gable branches that reach far into Georgia. The Tallapoosa flows from Georgia and unites with the Coosa to form the Alabama. It is not navigable, but affords fine water-power for machinery. Its falls and rapids are full of beauty.
The Chattahoochee, coming from Georgia, strikes Alabama at West Point, and takes a southerly course between the two States. Joining the Flint, about twenty-five miles above the Florida line, it forms the Appalachicola, which affords a passage- way to the large steamers of the Gulf.
The Choc taw hat' chee, Es cam' bia, Co ne' cuh, Sipsey, Noxubee, and other small rivers impart rich- ness to the soil along their banks, and await appro- priations from Congress with which they will be made navigable.
3. Surface .- No high mountains are within the State. The Appalachian system tapers from Look- out Mountain until lost in Bibb and Tuskaloosa counties. The section through which the system extends offers a wonderful variety of hill and valley, rocky gorges, and waterfalls, and overlooks plains that stretch away into the blue distance.
Sandhills pass southeastwardly through the State from Choctaw county to the Chattahoochee river, giving many miles of rugged hills and charming landscapes. Huge rocks and caves, winding streams, and towering trees give delightful relief to the sweep of river valleys and receding lowlands.
273
ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
4. Area, Soil, Products, Belts .- The State extends a little more than three hundred miles from north to south, and a little less than two hundred miles from east to west. It contains fifty-two thousand two hundred and fifty-one square miles of area. Its soils are of every kind, from the poor sandhills to the rich river-bottoms. Its crops embrace nearly everything to be found in the temperate zone and many things of the tropics. Its forests and minerals, its climate, and its agricultural resources have given people many ways to make a living. It is divided into four great belts-the cereal (grain) belt, the mineral belt, the cotton belt, and the timber belt.
II. Cereal Belt
5. Extent, Soil, Products .- The cereal belt com- prises the eight most northern counties. It spans the State from east to west, and embraces the valley of the Tennessee with its tributaries. No section of the State is more charming in scenery, soil, and cli- mate. Mountains temper the heat of summer and break the cold of winter.
Grains and grasses are of marvellous yield. Cotton thrives. Hardy orchard fruits and magnificent vine- yards yield large crops when intelligently cultivated. Big plant nurseries are near Huntsville. One order for seventy-five thousand Alberta peach sprouts to be shipped to the West was filled by one of these nurseries. Wild fruits are abundant. Stock-raising is profitable.
Excellent water-power and plentiful fuel-supply have long sustained factories. Huntsville, Florence,
274
ALABAMA HISTORY
Decatur, and Sheffield have iron furnaces and other industrial enterprises. Schools and churches, news- papers and people give evidence of prosperity and social virtues.
III. Mineral Belt
6. Extent, Soil, Farm Products .- The mineral belt lies immediately to the south of the cereal. It em- braces twenty-eight counties and contains nearly every mineral known to man. It covers one-third the area of the entire State.
Its soil is not so generally productive as that of the cereal and cotton belts, but in some sections it yields liberally both . wild and cultivated pro- ducts. Everything grown elsewhere in north Alabama finds more or less thrift when tried in favored por- tions of the mineral belt.
7. Mineral Develop- ment Delayed .- The ge- ological reports of Pro- Michael Tuomey fessor Michael Tuomey, made many years ago, told of vast mineral deposits stored in hills and val- leys. Agriculture, however, had been the business of the people from the very first settlement, and it fur- nished a good living. Property was largely in slaves, and agriculture not only produced wealth, but it
275
ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
brought health and happiness to the slaves. For these reasons little heed was given to developing the mineral resources of the State.
The freeing of the slaves produced many changes. Upon the surrender of the Confederate armies, Federal officers promptly seized large portions of whatever products Southerners had stored away. Cotton had been locked from the world by the blockades of war, and immediately commanded very high prices. These prices invited its pro- duction to the neglect of other crops and to the abandonment of other business. Everything bowed to "King Cotton." It brought more than two hundred and fifty dollars a bale. Farm- ers imported plows, wagons, stock, and Daniel Pratt even corn and meat.
Cotton began to fall in price. It dropped to twenty-five dollars a bale. Conditions became seri- ous. Debts grew. An old farmer said that people were planting cotton so that they might mortgage the crops to buy corn on credit. To raise but "one crop" was found to be a mistake. It did not bring relief from debt. Moreover, people began to study how to use to better advantage the resources of the State.
276
ALABAMA HISTORY
8. Mineral Development Begun .- A few far- sighted men had entered other lines of business that gave promise of larger profits than farming. Mr. Daniel Pratt, after whom Prattville is named, had grown very wealthy in the manufacture of cotton gins and the coarser products of the loom. His son- in-law, Mr. II. F. DeBardeleben, opened mines and
Entrance to Coal Mine at Adger
planted furnaces in the mineral belt. Other gentle- men of like enterprise saw that mining and manu- facturing industries, if properly developed, would be profitable. Furnaces, foundries, factories, mills, and machine shops began to work up the raw mate- rials and shape them for the uses of life. Coal fields, iron mines, and lime and granite quarries invited capital.
.
----
277
ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
It was discovered that nowhere else in the world were conditions more favorable for the manufacture- of iron. The ores were plentiful, and near them was an abundance of lime and coal. A new order of things set in. Cities and villages sprang into exist- ence. Railroad after railroad was built. New life and energy seemed to possess the State. The most wonderful object-lesson of the new order is to be learned from the growth and importance of Bir- mingham, the "Magic City" of Mineral Alabama.
9. Early History of Birmingham .- In 1816, the United States government granted to an insane asy- lum in Hartford, Connecticut, a large tract of land in what is now Jefferson county, Alabama. The trustees of the asylum sent a Mr. William Ely to select the land and commit its profits to the objects intended by the grant. Mr. Ely secured for his own use a portion of the land, and with business fore- sight began the building of a town. By good fortune he succeeded in having the courthouse located on the site of his town.
The town was named Flyton, after its founder. For half a century it formed the center of a sturdy, prosperous community. In flush times it drew trade from a large section of surrounding country. Its hotels and stores, its courthouses, its offices of law - yers and doctors, its schools, churches, and private residences were the pride of its citizens. William A. Walker, Sr., Judge William S. Mudd, Colonel Joseph Hickman, Doctor Joseph R. Smith, and others were among the early residents, and many of' their descendants still live here and in Birmingham ..
1816
278
ALABAMA HISTORY
1870
1871
The courthouse was burned in 1870. The Alabama Great Southern and the Louisville and Nashville railroads crossed each other nearly two miles to the east of Elyton. The petition of citizens to have the courthouse rebuilt near the crossing, in what is now Birmingham, was granted by the general assembly in 1871. A local poet tells about this event in lines beginning-
"In eighteen hundred and seventy-one, When Birmingham was Elyton."
Aug. 8, 1871
The first house in Birmingham, except the historic old blacksmith shop, had its foundations laid August 8, 1871. In December following, the city was char- tered. At that time it had twelve hundred inhabi- tants, eighteen two-story brick stores, and thirty frame houses. Colonel James R. Powell, the "Duke of Birmingham," as president of the Elyton Land Company, was at this time giving his energies and far-sighted wisdom to the building of the city. The streets and avenues were well planned for future growth.
10. Mineral Resources Near Birmingham .- Agents sent to Birmingham by capitalists declared that the marvellous estimates of the mineral wealth of the surrounding country were all true. It has been con- ceded that the Warrior, Cahawba, and Coosa coal fields contain coal enough to form a block ten feet thick that would cover more than four thousand squares miles of area, furnishing more than forty- two billion tons of coal for available use. This is enough to last more than eleven thousand years at
279
ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
the rate of ten thousand tons a day. A mountain of iron, twenty-five miles long, skirts Birmingham on. the south; lime and rock quarries abound.
11. Growth of the City .- People everywhere heard of Birmingham and of its nearby mineral resources. Wealth poured into it. Skilled laborers and wide- awake business men came to it. Railroads multi- plied. Furnaces and foundries were built. Popula- tion rushed in so rapidly that health regulations could not be observed. Cholera broke out and put a brief check upon the inrush of people and capital; but with renewed confidence the tide of prosperity turned back to this beautiful region of mineral wealth.
A bird's-eye view from Red Mountain gives a delightful picture of Jones Valley and the restless city, with roll of cars bringing in and carrying out passengers and freight, with smokestacks telling of the change of ores into products for the use of man, with moving masses of people, and the thrum of a thousand industries. The flare of furnaces and . the roar of heavy machinery give strange impres- sions of progress and power. The proud Indian who looked years ago from this mountain over the far-reaching valley must have felt wildest pleasure as the view broke upon his gaze; and the white man's coming must have given him a deeper sorrow as he looked for the last time upon scenes of such rare beauty and loveliness, and understood that they were passing into the possession of another race.
12. Birmingham Industries .- In the city and .throughout the Birmingham district there is a won-
280
ALABAMA HISTORY
derful list of industries. Numerous blast furnaces are in operation. Immense cotton gin factories. and cotton mills are a part of the life of this city. Ice factories, transfer companies, magnificent dry-goods and general-supply stores, cotton compresses and oil mills, lumber firms, factories for the manufacture of furniture, of bicycles, of fertilizers, of car wheels,
Steel Plant at Ensley
of sugar-mill machinery, of Corliss and other en- gines, and immense electric power-houses swell the number of its varied material industries.
The practical manufacture of steel began in 1897. Millions of dollars have since poured into the estab- lishment of steel plants in the Birmingham district, and the manufacture of basic steel is increasingevery year. It is claimed that the finest steel rails in the world are manufactured at Ensley. The railroad
1897
281
ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
tonnage from that place is said to be greater than that of the whole State of Georgia.
13. Advantages of Birmingham .- Scattered throughout the city are many schools, churches, hos- pitals, literary and social clubs. All denominations worship in beautiful church buildings, and engage able preachers. Nowhere else can be found more enthusiastic members of churches, giving more abundantly of labors and money, time and prayers, to every worthy cause.
A magnificent foundation for public instruction is seen in the elegant school buildings in different portions of the city. It has probably the most com- plete and best equipped high school in the South. The Birmingham College, Howard College, the Bir- mingham Seminary, Holy Angels Academy, and many excellent private schools impart tone to the intellectual life.
The Age-Herald, the News, the Ledger, and other great newspapers are helping to educate and enter- tain the people.
The Hillman and St. Vincent Hospitals, numerous private sanitariums, the Mercy Home, the Creche, and the Orphans' Home, dispense gentle services to the sick and suffering.
A magnificent system of street railways connects beautiful suburbs and neighboring cities with Bir- mingham. It provides easy trips to well-kept parks in which nestle many springs of pure water. The basin of one of these springs is forty-five feet deep. Its water, rolling away through a rustic milk-house, imparts a delightfully pleasing effect.
-
-
282
ALABAMA HISTORY
Great trunk-lines of railroad carry freight and passengers to all points of the compass. Shipments of iron unload in the ports of England, China, Japan, and other world powers, bringing to Birmingham manufacturers large bills of exchange.
Jan. 6, 1908
14. "Greater Birmingham."-On January 6, 1908, the vote for "Greater Birmingham" carried success- fully, and gave the city an area of forty-two square miles and more than one hundred thousand people.
Possibly no other city of its size is so free from envy and enmity and the vices that keep up gossip. There are too many enterprises that invite brain work to allow time to be wasted over the little nothings of life. Buoyant, hopeful, energetic, aggressive, the people are vigorously developing plans "for the glorious privilege of being inde- pendent" and for helping every noble work of humanity.
Birmingham may well be called the "Magic City," when one considers its rapid growth since 1871. When it is considered further that Tuskaloosa, Bessemer, Ensley, Fort Payne, Gadsden, Decatur, Sheffield, Florence, Huntsville, and many smaller places of north Alabama are following the example set by Birmingham, some idea can be formed of the great future that awaits the regions of Mineral Alabama.
IV. The Cotton Belt
15. Extent, Soil, People .- The cotton belt em- braces seventeen counties of central Alabama. It is far-famed as the "black belt," so named from the
283
ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
black prarie lands covering the greater part of it. It is one of the finest agricultural regions in the world. The lands are full of lime and very productive.
These lands early attracted rich planters. Before the war the large plantations were filled with slaves, who made the region among the most celebrated in history for luxuriant homes in the midst of rural
Gaineswood, the Home of Gen. N. B. Whitfield, near Demopolis
plenty. Thus the black belt became noted for men of wealth, intelligence, and political power. It has largely influenced the political and the social history of the State.
16. A Typical Farm .- Few scenes surpass in in- terest that of a well-managed black belt farm in summer. The fine dwelling-house of the owner stands in a yard of flowers. Servants' houses and barns for stock and storage are situated in the rear.
281
ALABAMA HISTORY
Farther back are negro cabins. Fields of corn and cotton stretch away as far as the eye can see. - Tas- sel and flower give promise of plenty in the coming harvests. Fences formed of rows of mock-orange bushes add to the beauty. Songs of gladness welling from hearts of happy laborers, and timed to the stroke of hoes and the roll of furrows, are heard in the fields. There is an indescribable charm in the - blending of so much beauty of scene and song of gladness.
17. Social Life .- These old homes were often filled with happy company. Wealthy families from the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia settled within a radius of a few miles from some other neighbor who had gone before to make purchase of lands and to build a home. It thus happened that friends who had been separated were often thrown together as neighbors, and became bound for life in common interests.
These conditions naturally developed social inter- course. Fine horses and carriages made delightful the rides from home to home in the summer seasons, and often tempted neighbors to risk the "bottom- less" roads of winter. A friendly spirit pervaded the settlements. Hospitality was open and abundant. Courtesies were as delicate and sure as in the most chivalrous homes of the Old World, and were dis- pensed with grace as natural and hearty as ever guided lord or lady. The servants took pride in the hospitalities of families, and by thoughtful cour- tesies added to the pleasures of visitors.
-
285
ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
The social spirit has come down from father to son and from mother to daughter. It lives to-day and discloses in manner and language the elevating influences of intelligent and careful rearing in homes of refinement and culture.
18. Crops .- A dense negro population furnishes labor to cultivate the soil. Cotton is yet the main
Picking Cotton
crop for market, the yield being about a half million bales a year. The market value of this cotton crop is about twenty-five million dollars.
Large corn crops and a great deal of hay are raised in this region. People are not relying on the "one crop of cotton and some corn" as in the past. Spe- cial attention is given to food crops, and the tendency now is to make the food-crops sustain the farms
-
286
ALABAMA HISTORY
and improve the stock. People are making experi- ments to learn how to till their crops better. They are also raising stock. In the cotton belt cotton- mills, factories, and lumber-mills are numerous and successful.
Dec. 3, 1818
19. Montgomery .- Montgomery,* the capital of the State, is the principal city of the cotton belt. It is situated on the left bank of the Alabama river on a high bluff, which the Indians called Chun nå nug' ga Chat' tee, which means "the red high bluff." It was chartered on December 3, 1818, and became the capital of the State in 1846. It was named for Gen- eral Richard Montgomery, who fell in battle against the British at Quebec. It has wide, beautifully paved streets, with oaks and magnolias overshading the sidewalks. Pretty residences, surrounded by groves filled with flowers and shrubbery, impart beauty and quiet dignity to the city. The capitol stands on a high hill and overlooks the surrounding country.
The city is surrounded by rich farming lands, which every year produce nearly two hundred thou- sand bales of cotton and large quantities of grain,
*General Thomas S. Woodward tells us that Andrew Dexter of Massachusetts purchased lands about Montgomery at the Milledgeville Sale, and had a Mr. Hall survey them for a town; that J. G. Klinck was granted the first choice of a lot and the privilege of naming the town, which he called New Philadel- phia; that Klinck was the first merchant to do business in the town, and said, as he cut down an oak on his lot, "This is the first tree-future ages will tell the tale"; that Alabama Town adjoining was founded by the Scott and Bibb Company, and secured the courthouse; that the two towns were united after- ward, and Klinck named the new town Montgomery; that Arthur Moore built and lived in the first house in Montgomery.
287
ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
fruits, and vegetables. It is in the meshes of rail- road systems that branch into every section of outlying territory. It is one of the great business centers of the South, doing more business with farm- ers than any other city of the State save Mobile.
Great men have lived in Montgomery. The giant orators of days before the war, both in the pulpit and in the courthouse, taught the people lessons of religious virtue, of patriotism and justice that "will go sounding through the ages." It is the birthplace of the Confederacy.
Montgomery is abreast of the age in progress and power, in worthy church enterprises, in magnificent schools, in commercial business, and in charitable impulses. It is strong in great achievements and flush with greater hopes. May Fortune from a full horn continue to pour blessings upon this the capital city of Alabama.
V. The Timber Belt
20. Description .- The timber belt includes four- teen counties in southern Alabama. It is in that region of the South which has been pronounced "the most heavily wooded section of the civilized world, unless it be the uncleared portions of Canada." Its forests contain pine, oak, hickory, beech, ash, cypress, cedar, dogwood, sweet gum, elm, magnolia, bay, poplar, maple, sassafras-in fact, nearly all the woods to be found in temperate and semi-tropical regions. Every county has valuable areas of timber.
21. Lumber Products .- An immense lumber busi- ness produces and markets annually millions of feet
288
ALABAMA HISTORY
of lumber. Vast shipments of tar, pitch, and turpen- tine, and masts for vessels go from the pine forests of this section. Capitalists have invested many mil- lions of dollars in purchasing the lands and con- structing mills and railroads in the timber belt. These mills and railroads are placing on the markets of the world a great variety of woods and naval stores.
22. Agricultural Products .- The lumber belt pro- duces about one hundred thousand bales of cotton annually, and is admirably adapted to truck farming and general food crops. Fruits and melons thrive. This section is blessed with soil and conditions that give profitable yield to many varieties of crops.
23. Cement Industry .- Although cement is manu- factured in nearly all parts of the State, most of the cement plants are located in the black belt. A vast amount of money is invested in these plants. Mil- lions of barrels of Portland cement have been shipped from them to Panama for use in the con- struction of the inter-ocean canal.
SUMMARY
Alabama is remarkably well-watered; navigable rivers, large creeks, and beautiful springs are in every section of the State. It is divided into four great belts. The cereal belt is noted for its production of grain; the mineral belt, in which Birmingham is located, produces enormous quantities of coal and iron; although cotton is grown throughout the State, the largest yield is in the cotton belt; from the timber belt are shipped vast quantities of lumber, tar, pitch, turpentine, and other products. The development of coal and iron mines, the manu- facture of cotton goods and lumber, the cultivation of cotton, corn, and other farm products, the extension and enlargement of commercial interests are the principal business of the people of Alabama.
:
289
ALABAMA INDUSTRIES
QUESTIONS
1. Give the boundaries of Alabama. 2. Describe its principal rivers. 3. Describe the surface of the State. 4 .. What is its area, and into what belts is it divided? 5. Give the extent, describe the soil, and name the farm products of the cereal belt; of the mineral belt. 6. Sketch the causes that delayed mineral development. 7. Give an account of the beginning of mineral development. 8. Tell the early history of Birmingham. 9. Describe the growth and prosperity of the city. 10. Name the principal industries of Birmingham. 11. What advantages has the city? 12. Describe "Greater Birmingham." 13. Give the extent and describe the soil and people of the cotton belt. 14. Give a word-picture of a typical farm. 15. Describe social life in the cotton belt. 16. What crops are being raised? 17. Sketch the history of Montgomery. 18. Give the extent and name the products of the timber belt. 19. What is said of the cement industry ?
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.