Editing Anniston, Alabama (section)

===Civil War===
Though the surrounding area was settled much earlier, the mineral resources in the area of Anniston were not exploited until the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. The [[Confederate States of America]] operated an iron furnace near present-day downtown Anniston,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.spiritofanniston.org/historic_photos.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100510192716/http://www.spiritofanniston.org/historic_photos.html|archive-date = May 10, 2010|title = The Spirit of Anniston - Historic Photos}}</ref> until it was destroyed by raiding [[Union Army|Union]] [[cavalry]] in early 1865. Later, [[cast iron]] for sewer systems became the focus of Anniston's industrial output. Cast iron pipe, also called soil pipe, was popular until the advent of plastic pipe in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Levlin|first=Erik|date=December 15, 2004|title=Water and Waste Pipes|url=http://levlin.se/kth/pipmat.pdf|pages=2}}</ref>