The Sloss Mines are a group of mines in southwestern

Jefferson County, Alabama Jefferson County is the List of counties in Alabama, most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, located in the central portion of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 674,721. Its county seat i ...

, United States. They were established by the Sloss Iron and Steel Company and its successor, the Sloss-Sheffield Iron and Steel Company, on the southern end of Red Mountain. The Sloss Iron and Steel Company itself was founded by

James Sloss James Withers Sloss (April 7, 1820 – May 4, 1890) was a planter, industrialist, and the founder of the Sloss Furnaces, and a leading figure in the early development of Birmingham, Alabama. Early life Sloss was born Limestone County in norther ...

in 1881 as the Sloss Furnace Company. The Sloss Mines produced

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

from 1882 until the 1960s. The ore that these mines produced were essential to the production of iron at the

Sloss Furnaces Sloss Furnaces is a National Historic Landmark in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States. It operated as a pig iron-producing blast furnace from 1882 to 1971. After closing, it became one of the first industrial sites (and the only blast furnace ...

, making them an important element in the formation of adjacent

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and Bessemer as cities. An accident in January 1895 killed two people. Red Mountain Park is an urban park that runs from east to west along the mountain. Red Mountain Park now owns the Sloss No. 2 mine site. Park officials plan to open a portion, but not all, of the area that the mines operated on to the public. Although the entrances have for the most part been sealed, The Tenn Coal and Iron mines 10, 11, 13 and 14, located in Red Mountain Park, are planned for development into interactive visitor sites. In addition, walking trails on the former mining sites have been developed, as well as the preservation of a mine worker's cemetery and many historic mining structures.

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Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HAER) documentation, filed under Birmingham, Jefferson County, AL: ** **{{HAER , survey=AL-26-A , id=al1138 , title=Sloss Red Ore Mine No. 2, Hoist House , photos=11 , color=1 , cap=1 , link=no 1880s establishments in Alabama Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Alabama Historic American Engineering Record in Alabama Iron mines in the United States Mines in Alabama

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