Birmingham Fabricating Co.

The Birmingham Fabricating Co. was a design and fabrication plant for iron and steel structures. It was incorporated in 1925 by J. M. Plant, Len White, and C. F. Hyrne. its plant was located on a 10-acre parcel at 724 Avenue W Ensley in South Pratt.

In 1926 the company, with Len White as engineer, designed and fabricated the large "Magic City sign" which greeted visitors outside the Birmingham Terminal Station.

On June 24, 1929 Hickson Lambert, a sales manager for the company, was killed when a crane broke while he was assisting plant workers in unloading a railroad car of steel. Circuit Court Judge C. B. Smith found that Lambert was acting outside of the "sphere" of his employment as a salesman, and thus his estate was not entitled to a claim under the Alabama Workmen's Compensation Act. That judgment was affirmed by the Alabama State Supreme Court, which found that Lambert was reasonably

A large part of the company's business was manufacturing and distributing expansion anchors used to support the roofs of underground mines as an improvement over timbering. In the 1950s that work was consolidated under a subsidiary, the Birmingham Bolt Co..

In 1957 the company, which employed nearly 150 people, undertook a $60,000 expansion.

In 1984 the facility became the home of Whitefab Inc., founded by White's sons Leonard and Francis White.

References

• "Fabricating company expands its plant/" (May 31, 1957) Birmingham Post-Herald - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections