West Blocton in Bibb County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Blocton
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Blocton Coke Ovens

Blocton Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Julia Frost, September 11, 2010

1. Blocton Marker

Inscription. Blocton Centered around the coke ovens, Blocton, first called Gresham, was the Cahaba Coal Mining Company town founded by Truman H. Aldrich in 1883-84. Other company officers included W. A. Clark of Muscatine, Iowa, and Cornelius Cadle, Jr., the town's first postmaster. The first coal was shipped in February 1884. Ten coal mines were eventually opened, the last in 1915 by the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company division of U.S. Steel. In its hayday around 1900, Blocton was the largest company town in the Cahaba coal field and had nine churches, two depots, schools, fraternal lodges, a company store, waterworks, hospital and over 375 miners' houses. Blocton declined after U.S. Steel ceased operations in 1928.

Blocton Coke Ovens Construction began on the bee-hive coke ovens in 1887. Shortly before Woodstock Iron Company directors Samuel Noble, Alfred L. Tyler & W.S. Gurnee became large stockholders in the Cahaba Coal Mining Company to ensure a steady supply of fuel for two new coke furnaces at Anniston. When the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company acquired the Cahaba Company in 1892, 467 ovens were producing

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coke for furnaces at Oxmoor, Bessemer, Birmingham & Trussville as well. After U.S. Steel assumed control in 1907, the ovens operated intermittently for a short time. In 1985, large endwall stones were removed and later used in the restoration of the Civil War furnaces at Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park. The Town of West Blocton purchased the site in 1972 & 1997.

Erected 1998 by The West Blocton Improvement Committee, The Alabama Historic Ironworks Commission.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. A significant historical month for this entry is February 1884.

Location. 33° 6.896′ N, 87° 6.425′ W. Marker is in West Blocton, Alabama, in Bibb County. It is on Blocton Bypass (County Road 24) 0.1 miles east of Primitive Ridge Road, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: West Blocton AL 35184, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Birmingham Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Black Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico

Blocton Coke Ovens Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Julia Frost, September 11, 2010

2. Blocton Coke Ovens Marker

state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: What Are Coke Ovens? (approx. 0.2 miles away); Welcome to West Blocton Coke Ovens Park (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Railway System (approx. 0.4 miles away); West Blocton, Alabama (approx. half a mile away); Belle Ellen (approx. 1.4 miles away); Piper / Coleanor (approx. 4.2 miles away); Town of Woodstock (approx. 7.3 miles away); Skirmish at Trion (approx. 8½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in West Blocton.

Blocton / Blocton Coke Ovens Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, February 4, 2023

3. Blocton / Blocton Coke Ovens Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on February 6, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 24, 2010, by Julia Frost of Hoover, Alabama. This page has been viewed 2,291 times since then and 138 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 24, 2010, by Julia Frost of Hoover, Alabama. 3. submitted on February 5, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. • Kevin W. was the editor who published this page.

Blocton⎯⎯⎯Blocton Coke Ovens

Blocton
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Blocton Coke Ovens