Alabama Fuel & Iron Company
Alabama Fuel and Iron Company was a commercial coal company which operated in the Cahaba Coal Field for nearly 50 years. It was founded by Henry F. DeBardeleben and likely represents his last business venture, although the company was successfully operated by 3 generations of the family: Henry Fairchild, son Charles and grandson Prince DeBardeleben.
The author originally prepared a series of 5 articles about this company for the newsletter of the Mid South Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS) which is based at the historic Leeds Depot near Birmingham, AL. These are linked on this page.
AF&ICo was a private stock company, and not a great deal has been written about the company. These articles are based on extensive research of the company records which are archived at the University of Alabama in the Hoole Library, and are easily accessible there. Although the company was founded in 1905-1906, the archive records only cover the period from 1916 to about 1953, the end of the company's liquidation.
Additional information was obtained from other sources, not the least of which is the collection of material gathered by Thomas Denney of Birmingham, an intrepid explorer of industrial history both in the field, online and in libraries. His willingness to share his resources has been invaluable. Other contributors are mentioned in the articles. which are not footnoted, but references are generally made parenthetically.
| Part 1 - Introduction | Part 2 - Acton Mines | Part 3 - Overton Mines | Part 4 - Margaret, Colgate and Acmar | Part 5 - Margaret, Colgate and Acmar |
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