“The principal authority for the general treatment of the history of coal, and of iron and steel, in Alabama is the work of Miss Ethel Armes. The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama is a comprehensive and scholarly work portraying in attractive style the growth of the mineral industries in its relation to the development of the state and of the South, in preparation of which the author spent more than five years.” —Thomas McAdory Owen, History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography
AcknowledgmentsPreface to the 2011 EditionIntroductionThe Planting of the SeedRecords of Early GrowthFirst Furnace and First RailroadEarly Records of Jefferson and Walker CountiesIron Making and Coal Mining in Tuskaloosa County, 1830–1861Bibb and Shelby Counties, 1820–1861Pioneer Iron Making in Northeastern Alabama, 1830–1861, and First State Geological SurveyEarly Railroad EnterprisesInternal Conditions of State and Outbreak of WarConfederate Arsenal and Naval FoundryCoal Mining in Civil War PeriodIron Making in War PeriodIron Making in War Period (Continued). The Fall of SelmaResurrection of the Iron Works 1866–1870The Founding of a Great Workshop Town, 1869–1872Reconstruction of Oxmoor and Advent of Louisville and Nashville Railroad into Alabama 1872–1873Life Saving Measures 1873–1878Birmingham Militant 1876–1880A Chapter of Progress 1880–1886The Northeastern Counties 1870–1890The Great Boom of Birmingham 1886–1887More Big Business 1886. Records of Sloss Iron and Steel Company and Pioneer Mining and Manufacturing CompanyAdvent of Tennessee Company into Alabama (1886) and its Early Trials and TribulationsA Series of Lively Incidents in the Birmingham and Sheffield Districts 1887The March of the T. C. I. 1888–1895Affairs of Birmingham District 1890–1909. Birmingham Coal and iron Company. Dimmick Pipe Company. Southern Iron and Steel Company. Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron CompanyPresent Day Affairs of Birmingham District (Continued). History of the T. C. I. (Continued). Organization of Alabama Consolidated Coal and iron CompanyThe Making of Walker County. Pratt Consolidated Coal Company, Galloway Coal Company, Corona Coal Company, Empire Coal Company and OthersThe Triumph of the T. C. I.
“The principal authority for the general treatment of the history of coal, and of iron and steel, in Alabama is the work of Miss Ethel Armes. The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama, is a comprehensive and scholarly work portraying in attractive style the growth of the mineral industries in its relation to the development of the state and of the South, in preparation of which the author spent more than five years.” --Thomas McAdory Owen, History of Alabama
“The documentation of Birmingham’s industrial heritage began at its apogee, with Ethel Armes.”—Alex Lichtenstein, Labor History
“A remarkable volume is The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama by Ethel Armes. This handsome work gives a complete history of the development of coal and iron in Alabama. The volume rings with the sentiment of the early pioneers, has quaint photographs of the ruins of old blast furnaces, pictures of the early leaders, letters, bills of lading and illustrations of modern plants.”—Sidney W. Ashe, New York Times Saturday Review of Books, Aug. 20, 1910
