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One and a half miles northeast of here, the mining town of Belle Ellen was established by the Bessemer Coal, Iron and Land Company in the fall of 1895 and named for Henry F. DeBardeleben's daughter, Belle, and wife, Ellen. DeBardeleben was a noted . . . — — Map (db m37226) HM
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., . . . — — Map (db m37228) HM
Piper
The town of Piper was established in 1901 a half mile northeast of here by the Little Cahaba Coal Company, named for Oliver Hazzard Perry Piper, a partner of industrialist Henry F. DeBardeleben. Two coal mines were opened in 1901 and . . . — — Map (db m83225) HM
The railway system was an important part of the iron and steel industry and the operation of the Blocton coke ovens. The ovens were constructed with rails on top for the charging car, often called a larry. There were rails between each row of ovens . . . — — Map (db m215680) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m215677) HM
West Blocton began as a business and residential community adjoining the Cahaba Coal Mining Company's town of Blocton in 1883-84. West Blocton incorporated in 1901. Eugene D. Reynolds was the first mayor, 1901-1904, followed by Dr. L.E. Peacock, . . . — — Map (db m72283) HM
Coke ovens, such as the ones you see in the park, are used to convert coal into coke, a cleaner burning fuel that produces little smoke. Construction here started in the late 1880's, with 140 ovens producing coke by 1889. The end buttresses that . . . — — Map (db m215681) HM
