Editing Hueytown, Alabama (section)

==Industrial history==
Although the Hueytown area has a history of farming, it has been a part of both the steel and coal mining industries in Jefferson County.

William & Joseph Woodward formed The [[Woodward Iron Company]] on New Year's Eve, 1881.  With William as company president and Joseph as company secretary, the brothers purchased the plantation of Fleming Jordan. The plantation had originally been developed by his father, Mortimer Jordan, in 1828.  The plantation included portions of present-day Hueytown and was one of the largest cotton plantations in the area.

On the former site of Mrs. Jordan's rose garden, Woodward [[Blast furnace|Furnace]] No. 1 began operation on August 17, 1883.  A second furnace went into blast in January 1887 and the two furnaces had a daily output of 165 tons.  A mine also went into operation in the [[Dolomite, Alabama|Dolomite]] community, which is today mostly within the City of Hueytown.  By 1909, there was a third furnace and a daily capacity of 250,000 tons with a workforce of 2000 men on the payroll.

By the 1920s Woodward Iron's many expansions made it one of the nation's largest suppliers of [[pig iron]]. Joseph's son, A. H. (Rick) Woodward, had become Chairman of the Board of Woodward Iron, and was one of the most prominent citizens of Alabama.  He is probably best remembered as the owner of the [[Birmingham Barons]] [[minor league baseball]] team and the namesake of [[Rickwood Field]], the nation's oldest professional baseball park still in use.

In 1968, [[MeadWestvaco|Mead Corporation]] acquired Woodward Iron just as the steel industry was going into decline.  In 1973, the last blast furnace closed, and [[Koppers]] Corporation bought the remaining [[coke (fuel)|coke]] production plant.  Eventually, even Koppers had closed coke production as well. Much of the {{convert|1200|acre|adj=on}} site today has been re-developed for lighter industrial use.<ref>''The Birmingham District, An Industrial History and Guide'', 1981, pp. 135-138, by Marjorie L. White</ref>

Coal mining began about the start of the 20th century at Virginia Mines.  Today this section of Hueytown contains mostly subdivisions of homes (Virginia Estates and Edenwood).  However, some of the original buildings from its mining past remain, including the superintendent's house, multiple supervisors' houses, and two company-built churches.

Some source{{who|date=June 2020}} say veteran prospector [[Truman H. Aldrich]] assembled these lands as part of his extensive coal properties, others cite two red-headed brothers, George and E. T. Shuler, as having opened the Virginia Mine in 1902. Having recently arrived from [[Virginia City, Nevada]], they named their new mine after that western city.  A mine disaster in February 1905 caused extensive damage. An underground explosion, one of the worst recorded mining disasters in Alabama history, entombed the entire day crew and caved in the mine entrance. When rescuers finally cleared the 1{{convert|500|ft|m|adj=mid|-deep}} shaft, they found 106 men dead and 20 dead mules.

In 1936, [[Republic Steel]] purchased the mine. It continued to be worked until September 1953, when it closed permanently.<ref>''The Birmingham District'' (1981), pp. 129 & 309, by Marjorie L. White</ref>