Welcome to West Blocton Coke Ovens Park

Welcome to West Blocton Coke Ovens Park. . History of coke ovens , In the park are four rows of the remains of the Cahaba Coal Company's coke ovens. These beehive block ovens were not the earliest coke producing units in the Cahaba Coal Field but may very well have been the largest single installation. Placed end to end the ovens would have covered more than a mile's length., In 1883 the Cahaba Coal Company constructed a company railroad extension from Woodstock to a mine being opened in a nearby town. That town was named “Blocton” by mine owner Truman Aldrich for a one ton block of coal removed from the No. 2 mine., By 1887 a “favorable quality of coal for steam purposes” was being furnished to four major railroad corporations. “Blocton” coal was in such demand that all the orders for the coal could not be filled., By 1889, 140 coke ovens were in operation, 150 ovens were ready for operation and 185 additional ovens were authorized because of the successful use by the Pioneer Mining and Manufacturing Company of coke made from the “Blocton” coal. One hundred tons of coke was now being shipped daily to the Eureka Company at Oxmoor and the same quantity to Birmingham Furnace and Manufacturing Company at Trussville. Coke was also supplied to a company in Anniston owned by Cahaba Coal Company directors, Samuel Noble and A. L. Tyler., By the summer of 1890 the Town of Blocton had increased to 3,600 people and 467 coke ovens were in operation with an estimated output of 600 tons a day., In 1909 US Steel authorized new tracks installed to the Beehive Coke Ovens at Blocton but company records do not record any coke being produced at Blocton after that year.