Editing Bessemer, Alabama (section)

==History==
The town was founded in the [[Reconstruction Era]] by the Bessemer Land and Improvement Company, named after [[Henry Bessemer]] and owned by coal magnate [[Henry F. DeBardeleben]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The City of Bessemer – The Marvel City|url=https://www.bessemeral.org/|access-date=August 27, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> He had inherited [[Daniel Pratt (industrialist)|Daniel Pratt]]'s investments.<ref name="samfordmens">[http://www3.samford.edu/alabama-mens-hall-of-fame/inductees/DeBardeleben.html Alabama Men's Hall of Fame: Henry Fairchild DeBardeleben] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722174859/http://www.samford.edu/alabama-mens-hall-of-fame/inductees/DeBardeleben.html |date=July 22, 2015}}, Samford University</ref> The mayor and councilmen voted to incorporate the city of Bessemer on September 9, 1887.<ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2996 "Bessemer"], ''Encyclopedia of Alabama''</ref> Located 16 miles southwest of Birmingham, Bessemer grew rapidly and its promoters believed that it might overtake the other city in economic power.

Given the iron ore, coal and limestone deposits in the area, the city became a center of steelmaking from about 1890 through the 20th century. It attracted rural migrants from across the South, as well as European immigrants. By the 1950s, the city was majority African American in population.<ref>S. Jonathan Bass, ''He Calls Me By Lightning: The Life of Caliph Washington and the Forgotten Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty'', Liveright Publishing, 2017</ref>

The industry went through considerable restructuring in the late 20th century, and jobs moved out of the area. Steel is no longer made there.{{cn|date=November 2021}}

In 2019, it was named Alabama's "Worst City to Live in" by 24/7 Wall Street.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stebbins |first1=Samuel |title=Worst City to Live in Every State |url=https://247wallst.com/special-report/2019/07/22/worst-cities-to-live-in-every-state-4/2/ |website=24/7 Wall Street |access-date=July 24, 2019}}</ref>