Tecumseh Furnace, Alabama facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tecumseh Furnace
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 Tecumseh Furnace, Alabama
Location in Alabama
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| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Cherokee |
| Elevation | 925 ft (282 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code(s) | 256 & 938 |
| GNIS feature ID | 160728 |
Tecumseh Furnace is a small place in Cherokee County, Alabama, United States. It is an unincorporated community, which means it's a group of homes or businesses that isn't officially part of a town or city.
Contents
History of Tecumseh Furnace
This community grew up around a special kind of factory called a blast furnace. A blast furnace is a huge oven used to melt iron ore and make iron. This particular furnace was named after William Tecumseh Sherman, a famous general from the American Civil War.
Building the Furnace
The Tecumseh Iron Company was started in 1873 by a man named Willard Warner. He was a high-ranking officer, a brigadier general, in the Union Army during the American Civil War. General Warner had worked with General Sherman, so he decided to name the new furnace in his honor.
The furnace began working on February 19, 1874. It was built right next to the Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad, which made it easy to transport materials and finished iron. At the time, many people thought it was one of the most beautiful iron furnaces in the southern United States.
How the Furnace Worked
When the Tecumseh Furnace was at its busiest, it could make up to 25 tons of iron every single day! That's a lot of iron. The company also had a post office nearby, in a community also called Tecumseh. This post office was open from 1873 until 1935.
The furnace ran all the time until 1886. After that, it worked on and off until October 1890.
Later Years and Dismantling
In 1909, a company called Birmingham Coal & Iron Company bought the entire property. Then, on August 4, 1912, the Woodward Iron Company bought Birmingham Coal & Iron Company. The new owners decided to take the furnace apart and sell its pieces for scrap metal.
