Both Sloss Industries Corporation and Birmingham had their beginnings over one-hundred years ago. Birmingham was incorporated in 1871. Sloss was founded in 1881 as the Sloss Furnace Company by one of Alabama's great men, Colonel James Withers Sloss, who was born an Alabamian in 1820. Colonel Sloss, a veteran of the War between the States as well as a North Alabama entrepreneur and railroad man, recognized the tremendous possibilities in the unusual coincidence of coal, iron, limestone, and water in the Birmingham district. Col. Sloss directed the Experimental Coke and Iron Company which first demonstrated in 1876 that iron could be made from Alabama iron ore using Alabama coke manufactured from Alabama coal. Some of his other achievements included building the Nashville Decatur Railroad, becoming president of the newly founded Birmingham Waterworks and co-founding the Pratt mines. The Sloss Furnace Company made its first run of iron in 1882. A second furnace was placed in blast in 1883. The company was recognized as the Sloss Iron and Steel Company in 1887 when Col. Sloss sold his interest to a group of Alabama and Virginia capitalists. In 1889, the North Birmingham Blast Furnace was completed and placed in blast. Following the acquisition of the blast furnace plants and coal and iron ore reserves of the Sheffield Iron Company, the company was reorganized to become the Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company in 1899. Construction was begun on the North Birmingham By Products Coke Oven Plant in 1918. The first coke was produced in 1920. Slag Wool manufacturing began in 1947 at the North Birmingham location. In 1952 Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company merged with U.S. Pipe and Foundry Company. In 1988, Sloss Industries Corporation became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walter Industries, Incorporated. Sloss currently produces foundry coke, furnace coke, slag wool, and processed mineral fiber (PMF®). The company also operates a 25 megawatt power plant and a Biological Wastewater Treatment Facility (BTF). • Back to Home