Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Schedule: Year-round; day use sunrise to sunset; visitor center open Mon-Fri 8:30
a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sat 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Iron and Steel Museum open Mon-Fri 8:30
a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sat 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sun 12:30-4:30 p.m.
Maps: USGS McCalla, AL;
DeLorme: Alabama Atlas & Gazetteer,
page 30 H3;
trail maps available at country store
Trail contact: Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park, 12632 Confederate Pk-
wy., McCalla, AL 35111; (205) 477-9400; www.tannehill.org
Finding the trailhead: From the intersection of I-459 and I-20 West / I-59 South,
take I-20 West / I-59 South 5 miles. Take exit 100 (Abernant/Bucksville) and turn
left onto AL 216 East. (Shortly after turning onto AL 216, it becomes Bucksville
Road.) Follow AL 216 / Bucksville Road 0.6 mile and make a slight right onto
Tannehill Parkway. Travel 1.9 miles and turn right onto Eastern Valley Road. In
less than 0.1 mile, turn left onto Confederate Parkway. The park entrance is ahead
in 0.7 mile. GPS: N33 14.970' / W87 04.297'
The Hike
At one time Birmingham and its environs rivaled the steel-production machine of
Pittsburgh and helped keep the Confederate army supplied with weapons. In 1830
Daniel Hillman came to Alabama from Pennsylvania and built a forge along
Roupes Creek. Two years after setting up the operation and well before he had a
chance to see the fortune the forge would make, Hillman died. Local farmer Nini-
an Tannehill purchased the forge.
Three tall furnaces were constructed on the site with the use of slave laborers
who cut the sandstone bricks by hand. By 1862 the ironworks was in full swing,
producing pig iron for the Confederacy. On March 31, 1865, the Eighth Iowa Cav-
alry of the US Army shelled and set fire to the foundry, while a few miles up the
road, Union troops torched the slave quarters.
A businessman bought the ironworks after the Civil War and tried to rebuild it,
but times during Reconstruction were bad, and the facility was eventually aban-
doned and soon overtaken by nature.
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