Tecumseh Furnace is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Cherokee County,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

The community was centered on a

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...

that was named for

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...

. The Tecumseh Iron Company was organized in 1873 by

Willard Warner Willard Warner (September 4, 1826 – November 23, 1906) was a brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a U.S. senator from the state of Alabama after the war. Early life and career Warner was born in ...

, who was a brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Warner served on General Sherman's staff, so he named the furnace in his honor. It was located on the

Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad Company was formed by the consolidation of Alabama and Tennessee River Rail Road Company (incorporated under act of Alabama, March 4, 1848), Georgia and Alabama Rail Road Company (incorporated under act of Georgia ...

and first began operations on February 19, 1874. At the time, it was considered one of the architecturally finest iron furnaces in the South. The furnace had a maximum output of 25 tons of iron produced per day at its peak. The company received mail at the nearby community of Tecumseh, which had a post office from 1873 to 1935. It operated constantly until 1886, and then sporadically from 1886 to October 1890. In 1909, the Birmingham Coal & Iron Company purchased the entire property. The

Woodward Iron Company The Woodward Iron Company (located in the area between Hueytown, Brighton, and Bessemer, Alabama) was founded on December 31, 1881, by brothers William and Joseph Woodward. William was the company president and Joseph was the company secretary.Ma ...

bought the Birmingham Coal & Iron Company on August 4, 1912, and had the furnace dismantled for scrap.

References

Unincorporated communities in Cherokee County, Alabama Unincorporated communities in Alabama {{CherokeeCountyAL-geo-stub