The TCI Ensley Works

The creation of the Ensley Works & Blast Furnaces was the brainchild of Colonel Enoch Ensley back in 1888 when he was the President of the Tennessee Coal Iron And Railroad Company in Birmingham. His vision was to create the area now called Ensley as the largest steel/iron producer in the Southeastern United States. The first furnace was lit or blown in in 1888 with
the sixth furnace blown in around 1905. In addition a revolutionary process called the Duplex
Process/Bessemer Converter was installed so that the molten iron ore could more easily be
converted into steel. This was used in combination with the Ensley Works open hearth process. Eventually the Ensley Works would encompass more the 600 acres in space with major rail lines transporting nearby raw iron ore, coal/coke and limestone/dolomite to feed its furnaces. The city of Ensley named for its founder was built around the furnaces and was the areas largest employer.
By 1907 United States Steel had acquired TCI and immediately started capital improvements of the Ensley Works with old furnaces being torn down and replaced with more efficient ones.
In addition an upgraded finishing rail mill was constructed for the production of rails for the
railroads. The Ensley Works major products were finished steel ingots and rails of all different
sizes. Also around 1912 TCI/U.S. Steel created their new model city of Corey (Fairfield) just down the road from Ensley. The American Steel & Wire Company was constructed there and received the majority of finished steel ingots from Ensley to thereby convert the ingots into many other steel products.
The Ensley Works of TCI/U.S. Steel continued operating up until 1975/76 when the furnaces and open hearth process became outdated and expensive to maintain In addition air pollution
which had been a major health problem in the Birmingham District for many decades primarily from the many furnaces operating in the area also had a direct impact on the closure of Ensley as well as other area furnaces with huge fines and penalties being brought forth by the newly created EPA. By then All steel making by U.S. Steel in Birmingham was handled by the company's more modern cleaner air facilities at Fairfield. Years afterword the entire Ensley Works facility was dismantled and razed to the ground with only a few buildings left standing.
Today the Ensley Works site property is still owned by U.S. Steel and has yet to be redeveloped. Several buildings and the old stacks still remained. However in early 2019 after many complaints by local citizen action groups as to the conditions of the abandoned buildings and nefarious activities taking place on the old site U.S. Steel demolished the last of the the historic Ensley Works Structures. For now only the stacks remain standing but for how long no one knows.