Alice Furnace
Construction began on Alice Furnace on September 29, 1879 by the Alice Furnace Company formed by Henry DeBardeleben and T. T. Hillman. According to "Alabama Blast Furnaces", published by Woodward Iron Company in 1940, Alice was the 4th furnace (coke fired) to be built in Jefferson County. The other three would have been McElwain (Old Irondale, 1863-64), and Oxmoor No. 1 (1863) and No. 2 (1873). The first furnace was located at the southwest end of the Railroad and Mechanical Reservation where the Alabama & Chattanooga split with the Louisville and Nashville (South & North). The first furnace, No. 1, was completed and blown in on November 23, 1880, and the second furnace, No. 2, was blown in July 23, 1883. By 1886, this facility was setting records when No. 2 produced 150 tons of iron in one 24 hour day. [Photo from Woodward, p. 37]