Finley Yard
The Finley Yard And Shop Complex was a rail yard located in the Acipco-Finley neighborhood that was originally located on the site of the Alabama Farmers Market on Finley Ave The yard was built in 1915 by the Southern Rairoad and was named after William Wilson Finley (1853-1913) who was the second president of the Southern Railroad who succeeded Samuel Spencer as first president of the railway until his death in 1906, and Finley died seven years later. It is also known as the Finley Memorial Yard. The railroad invested $660,000 for construction, which began in 1914. The first replica of the Best Friend of Charleston was built there in 1928. It was the first American-built engine, and the first to begin passenger service in the United States, and the first to suffer a boiler explosion. It ran on Christmas Day in 1830 on the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, Southern Railroad's oldest predecessor line. The yard was dismantled in 1952, as the railroad had relocated it's operations in Alabama to the Norris Yard. Around that time, at least 20 dilapidated structures remained until the railroad sold the site off to the AAlabama Farmers Market, which the railroad co-established with. The yard was retained to be in use by the American Cast Iron Pipe Company. Only three structures remain at the yard site, including a roundhouse, that was used by the Shaw Warehouse Company who renovated it and converted it to a warehouse. It is the largest remaining roundhouse in the state and in poor condition, with 25 stalls, and the oldest structure of the three. The backshop, which is located west of roundhouse, was built in 1920. It was owned by Feralloy, who located to Decatur, and it is currently owned by Mill Steel. An interlocking tower is located on Center Street south of the roundhouse.