Eureka Mines
The Eureka Mines were an early collection of small-scale iron ore mines in the vicinity of Mimm's Gap on the southern face of Red Mountain, within what is now Red Mountain Park.
Landowner Baylis Grace had sold red ore from outcroppings on the mountain to local forges as early as the 1840s. The mining operation expanded to furnish ore to the Red Mountain Iron and Coal Company, which began producing iron at Oxmoor Furnace No. 1 in November 1863.
The furnace was destroyed by United States cavalry forces under Brigadier General Emory Upton at the close of the Civil War in April 1865. After the war, the mine was acquired by Daniel Pratt and Henry F. DeBardeleben, and reopened as part of their Eureka Mining & Transportation Company, which also rebuilt the Oxmoor Furnace. To connect the mines to the furnace, the company constructed a 2.5-mile long narrow-gauge tramway which passed over the South & North Alabama Railroad tracks just north of the furnace site.
In February 1876 the Eureka Company undertook a successful experiment to use locally-produced coke rather than charcoal in its iron furnaces. Much of the subsequent development using the Eureka name took place in the state's coal fields.
Pratt sold controlling interest in the business to James Sloss of Louisville, Kentucky and James Thomas of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1878. Ore from different depths of the Eureka Mines proved to be inconsistent in its suitability for making commercial iron. A succession of furnace masters attempted to correct for pigs that came out too soft or too brittle for market. John Shannon of Georgia was the one who successfully altered the amount of limestone flux based on the lime content of the ores. The furnaces were rebuilt in the 1880s and the company was re-acquired by the DeBardeleben Coal & Iron Co. in 1890. Two years later, that company was bought by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company. TCI was itself acquired by U.S. Steel in 1907.
TCI had rebuilt the furnaces in the 1890s, but idled them shortly after becoming part of U.S. Steel. The ore tramway ceased operating by 1905 when the main rail line was relocated. The sudden demand for metals created by World War I caused the company to reopen the Oxmoor Furnaces in February 1913. After the war, the company kept only one of the two furnaces running. It was shut down in May 1927 and the stacks dismantled the following year.
The mine continued to produce, off and on, until 1962.
See also
- Eureka Coal Company
- Eureka No. 1 Mine coal mines at Coal City
- Eureka No. 2 Mine and Eureka No. 3 Mine, coal mines at Roebuck
- Eureka No. 4 Mine coal mine at Helena