Valley View Mine
Valley View Red Ore Mine operated on the northern slope of Red Mountain from 1904 to 1924.
Under contract to the Central Iron and Coke Company of Holt, owners of the mine, Birmingham Ore and Mining Company began surface work on outcroppings of the famed Red Mountain iron ore "Big Seam" around 1904 at the Valley View mine site. Shortly miners opened several drifts, and in 1906 they began an underground slope mine following the dip of the ore seam. Ore cars drawn up the slope by hoist cable delivered the ore to a crusher at a siding of the Birmingham Mineral Railroad. Crushed ore was loaded directly into railroad cars for delivery to Central Iron's blast furnaces at Holt.
The mine entrance sloped down into Red Mountain for 75 feet before opening into eleven chambers, most of which filled with water without pumps to keep them open. The mine closed in 1924 after suspending operations from 1916 to 1921. In 1923 additional structures at the mine included 23 houses, a store, 2 barns, a tipple, shop, supply hoist, oil house, powder magazine, dam, and water tower, all of which were removed before 1993.
Public discussion of opening the former mine to visitors began in 1956. In 1965 the Vulcan Park Improvement Commission discussed plans to open the Valley View Mine to tourists, with an exhibit of mining artifacts and an underground auditorium, accessed by a rubber-wheeled train following the former Mineral Railroad route. Architect Fred Hallmark, who chaired the commission, estimated the project would cost about $75,000.
The crusher foundation remains visible alongside the Vulcan Trail, beneath The Club restaurant.
References
- Bryant, Ted (April 8, 1965) "Opening Of Old Mine To Public Discussed." Birmingham Post-Herald
- Birmingham Historical Society (1997) Birmingham Bound: An Atlas of the South's Premier Industrial Region 1850-Present. ISBN 0943994225
External links
- Valley View Red Ore Mine, Historic American Engineering Record documents at the Library of Congress