Dublin Core
Title
Philadelphia Furnace
Subject
Industry
Description
The Philadelphia Furnace was located on Sweetwater Creek to the south of present day Veterans Drive. Originally owned by the father of the Sweetwater boom, Judge William Basil Wood, the furnace was known as the W.B. Wood Furnace in 1889. The W.B. Wood Furnace was one of the first industries in the Sweetwater area, but it was incomplete. John W. Norton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was hired as its manager. While Norton was manager, he oversaw the completion of the W.B. Wood Furnace in 1891 and the furnace was renamed in honor of his home city of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Furnace could produce 45,000 tons of iron a year.
By 1892, the Philadelphia Furnace fell into financial trouble because of the economic depression of 1892 and was subsequently sold to the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company a few years later in 1899. The Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company owned the Philadelphia Furnace from 1899 to 1926 when in 1926 the furnace was blown out. In 1901, the Sloss-Sheffield Company resumed operation after the company upgraded and remodeled the furnace that was ten years old. Under the direction of the Sloss-Sheffield Company, the Philadelphia furnace employed 175 men in 1906 and could produce up to two hundred tons of iron a day. At the peak of production for the furnace, it produced about 70,000 tons of iron a year. Unfortunately, production stopped in 1926.
The workers for the Philadelphia furnace lived in a company-owned village along what is now Veterans Drive and what was and is Aetna Street. The Sloss-Sheffield Company provided a two-story brick commissary for food, dry goods, and other necessities for the families of the Philadelphia furnace workers.
When in operation, the furnace was a remarkable sight. The furnace had the highest smokestack in all of Sweetwater. The furnace operated around the clock with three shifts per day. When the night shift would clock in, they would be the men who began the process of dumping the molten red slag along the railroad tracks by the furnace. Stories abounded over the sight of the molten red slag being dumped. A story of an immigrant Irish worker to east Florence, Pat McClutchin, described him being awoken from sleep around midnight to the glow of the molten red slag. He was staying at the Kiddy Hotel at the time in Sweetwater and was heard moaning by the other guests in the hotel. According to the story told about McClutchin, he thought he had died and gone to the gates of Hell. McClutchin's fear was not true, but the slag was always that hot.
By 1892, the Philadelphia Furnace fell into financial trouble because of the economic depression of 1892 and was subsequently sold to the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company a few years later in 1899. The Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company owned the Philadelphia Furnace from 1899 to 1926 when in 1926 the furnace was blown out. In 1901, the Sloss-Sheffield Company resumed operation after the company upgraded and remodeled the furnace that was ten years old. Under the direction of the Sloss-Sheffield Company, the Philadelphia furnace employed 175 men in 1906 and could produce up to two hundred tons of iron a day. At the peak of production for the furnace, it produced about 70,000 tons of iron a year. Unfortunately, production stopped in 1926.
The workers for the Philadelphia furnace lived in a company-owned village along what is now Veterans Drive and what was and is Aetna Street. The Sloss-Sheffield Company provided a two-story brick commissary for food, dry goods, and other necessities for the families of the Philadelphia furnace workers.
When in operation, the furnace was a remarkable sight. The furnace had the highest smokestack in all of Sweetwater. The furnace operated around the clock with three shifts per day. When the night shift would clock in, they would be the men who began the process of dumping the molten red slag along the railroad tracks by the furnace. Stories abounded over the sight of the molten red slag being dumped. A story of an immigrant Irish worker to east Florence, Pat McClutchin, described him being awoken from sleep around midnight to the glow of the molten red slag. He was staying at the Kiddy Hotel at the time in Sweetwater and was heard moaning by the other guests in the hotel. According to the story told about McClutchin, he thought he had died and gone to the gates of Hell. McClutchin's fear was not true, but the slag was always that hot.
Creator
M.C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama
Source
Text Sources:
McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003.
UNA Archives & Special Collection. McDonald Collection. Factories and Mills. Box 25, Volume 3, Factories and Mills File 3.1. Florence, Alabama. William Lindsey McDonald, “Untitled Manuscript."
McDonald, William Lindsey. "Sweetwater: The Story of East Florence." Florence: Florence Historical Board, 1989.
Sheridan, Richard C. “Industrial Growth in the Shoals Area 1818-1933,” Journal of Muscle Shoals History, vol. 7 (1979).
Picture Source:
UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Philadelphia Furnace.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-29.
McDonald, William Lindsey. "A Walk Through the Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama." Killen, Ala., Bluewater Publications, 2003.
UNA Archives & Special Collection. McDonald Collection. Factories and Mills. Box 25, Volume 3, Factories and Mills File 3.1. Florence, Alabama. William Lindsey McDonald, “Untitled Manuscript."
McDonald, William Lindsey. "Sweetwater: The Story of East Florence." Florence: Florence Historical Board, 1989.
Sheridan, Richard C. “Industrial Growth in the Shoals Area 1818-1933,” Journal of Muscle Shoals History, vol. 7 (1979).
Picture Source:
UNA Archives & Special Collection. William L. McDonald Collection. “Philadelphia Furnace.” Florence, Alabama. Box 12: Florence Industry, 12-29.
Publisher
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
Date
Late Nineteenth-Early Twentieth Century
Format
Image