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 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
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 Conu 1 tenth is the coming El Dorado of American adventure. M nighty speed and 
 
 f* * award progress!" So wrote the Hon. W. D. Kclley, M. C, of Pennsylvania a few 
 
 and every day brings forth new i ,j s prediction and 
 
 w- . without a doubl Lho South is to be the richest country upon the globe, in oliraate 
 
 mineral and timber wealth, in rivers large and Bmall, in a long in abundant rainfall' 
 
 in healthful nt ss, and in even other advantage that could be asked, nature Beems to have done her 
 
 bent for this favored land. The wealth in Iron and Coal is beyond estin rimber there is 
 
 an unlimited supply, including nearl] every variety of hard wo id-working purp 
 
 AINING 
 
 AND 
 
 AANUFACTURING 
 
 ADVANTAGES 
 
 BESSEAER 
 
 IN THE HEART OF 
 
 /MNERAL ALABAAA 
 

 1SS7—POPULA TION 
 1SSS—POPULA Tl<>\ 
 1SS0-POPULA TION 
 
 20O 
 •2,400 
 5,200 
 
 NEW OFFICE OF THE LAND CO.-I889. 
 
 Seven Furnaces, output 1S1I0. - - - 250,000 tons 
 
 Rolling Mills, - - - ■ ■ - 100 tons daily 
 
 Fire Kriek Works, - 25,000 daily 
 
 Many lesser Industries. 
 
 OFFERS THIRTY VARIETIES OF HARD WOODS FOR 
 WOOD-WORKING INDUSTRIES. 
 
 THE BESSEMER LAND AND IMPROVEMENT CO. 
 are prepared to deal Liberally for the founding of Iron and 
 \V [-Working Industries in I his growing mining and man- 
 ufacturing center. 
 
 BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 
 H. F. DeBARDELEBEN. 
 \VM. A. COURTENAT. A. T. SMTTHE. 
 
 DAVID ROBERTS. M. E LOPEZ. 
 
 WM. BERNEY. A. M. ADGER. 
 
 H. M. McNUTT, 
 
 Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 
"I I. A. K. McClure, of the Philadelphia Times, says: N'o citizen of the North of 
 fair intelligence can review the slumbering wealth of Alabama without accepting the 
 conclusion that the nexl generation will Bee this State an iron and coal center equal to, if 
 no) surpassing Pennsylvania. ****•• 
 
 INFORMATION 
 
 ABOUT 
 
 ALABAMA, 
 
 
 ••Ii is idle for Pennsylvania and other great iron and coal-producing States to close 
 their eyes to the fact thai we have reached the beginning of a great revolution in I 
 products. No legislation, no sound policy, do sentiment can halt such revolution when 
 the immutable laws of trade command it; and the sudden tread of the hordes from the 
 Northern forests upon am re suddenly threaten il»> majesty of the 
 
 mistress of the world than does the tread of the iron and coal dif labama thn 
 
 1 he ir, ni iron and coal fields. * * * Ti is , upon us 
 
 plain as i lii ii laj sun, and it is midsummer madness not to read them understandingly. 
 
 We cannot war with destiny; we canm the benefice; Him who leads the 
 
 waters to the sea and sends them back in the dews and nun- of Heaven. Alabama has 
 been gifted far beyond even our boasted empire of Pennsylvania, ami only the Southern 
 sluggard has hitherto given the race to the North. Now there i- a uew South, with new 
 teachings, new opportunities, new energies, ami manifestly a new destiny, ami the time 
 i* ai hand when a large portion of the greal iron ami coal products of the country which 
 enter competing centers will be supplied cheaper from Alabama than from any State in 
 
 Mil." 
 
 PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS: 
 
 LUCAS & RICHARDSON, 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C. 
 
 H-c 
 
 «•" 
 
. 
 
 r 
 
 f j 
 
 
 
MINIM: AM) MANUFACTURING ADVANTAGES 
 
 BESSEMER. 
 
 WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 
 J 
 
 *> 
 
 Business facts are the most convinc- 
 and effective when the plainest 
 l. When the object istoconvey 
 information, ami relying upon that 
 information, I rtain results, 
 
 the more scrupulously that informa- 
 tion is divorced from all semb 
 
 I ion or conjecture the n 
 mpn nd effectual it becomes. 
 
 The following pages contain a reci- 
 tal and aggregation of facts, plainly and accurately stated and defined, 
 which are submitted as a proposition from one business man to 
 another may be — to those whose attention and interest it is desired 
 to enlist — to practical, industrious workmen, skillei ins and 
 
 reputable business men. 
 
 The information thus presented is believed to be of sufficient value 
 and interest to the classes cited as to insure tlnir consideration and 
 to inspire that investigation and action as will best subserve the 
 interests and destiny of each. 
 
 The conditions of life and business in this great Republic have not 
 yet become so stable, remunerative <>r satisfactory as to neutralize 
 that migratory tendency and disposition which has so noticeably 
 distinguished the American people, and the effects of which is s< 
 in the greatest development and most wonderful progn irded 
 
 in the world's history. The enlarged personal freedom guarant 
 by our institutions inspires ambition, which seeks the best and most 
 favorable field for labor and gratification. When the advantages and 
 opportunities of one section have been absorbed, or exhausted, or 
 monopolized, recourse is had to another. The incentive to better 
 one's condition is inherent in every intelligent, progressive .wu\ ambi- 
 tious American mind. 
 
 3 
 
The city of Bessemer, Alabama, and the section which in a com- 
 mercial, manufacturing, mining, agricultural and industrial sense is 
 tributary to it, presents a field, the resources, advantages and attrac- 
 tions of which are outlined in these pages, and their superiority will 
 be made evident in the discussion and support by indisputable facts 
 of the following premises, preceding their discussion with a brief 
 reference to the location, founding and progress of the city. 
 
 PREMISES. 
 
 There is no place on this continent, if there be in the world, 
 
 where the conditions 
 for the 
 
 PRODUCTION' OF IRON 
 
 exist in so complete, 
 practical and economi- 
 cal a form and combi- 
 nation as they do at 
 and immediately trib- 
 utary to the city of 
 Bessemer. 
 
 There is no location 
 in the South, if there 
 be in the whole coun- 
 try, more suitable, ad- 
 vantageous or better 
 adapted for 
 
 New Office Building Bessemer Land and Improvement Company. 
 
 GENERAL MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES 
 
 by reason of a wealth of raw material in the greatest abundance and 
 economically available, a central commercial position and superior 
 facilities for distribution and delivery, than the city of Bessemer and 
 its vicinage. 
 
 There is no portion of this country offering a more certain or gen- 
 erous return to the 
 
 TRUCK FARMER AND DAIRYMAN 
 
 than the territory in immediate proximity to Bessemer. 
 
 There is no section of the South more attractive or desirable for 
 
 RESIDENCE AND HOME 
 
 by reason of its natural and picturesque beauty ; its prime conditions 
 of salubrity ; its medium temperature ; even rainfall ; pure and abun- 
 dant water supply; thorough natural drainage; the absence of 
 stagnant water or swampy lands and of noxious insects and vermin; 
 
 4 
 
and an abundance and infinite variety of the bounties and fruits of 
 the earth than the section at and immediately surrounding the city 
 of Bessemer. 
 
 There is no point in the country that will afford a safer or more 
 stable return to the labor, skill, enterprise or capital of the 
 
 WORKINGMAN, MECHANK WI' BUSINESS MAN 
 
 by reason of opportunities f<>r employment and industrial pursuit-,; 
 the advantages for mining and manufacturing enterprises; the induce- 
 ments for commercial effort and venture, and the needs and demands 
 for the judicious investment of capital than the city of Bessemer. 
 
 Till. CITY OF BESSEMER 
 
 is in North Alabama, midway between the Eastern anil Western 
 boundary State lines, and about of miles north of the centre 
 
 of the State. It is located in the lower section "i Jon.-- Valley, 
 where it broadens into a vast amphitheatre, a spur of mountains 
 being projected across its face, and forming its southwestern limit. 
 This valley, with slightly varying width, extends thirteen miles to 
 the northeast, where Birmingham is located. It is bounded on the 
 southeast by the Red Mountain range, and on the southwest or 
 opposite side by the Rock Mountain range. With a width of a mile 
 and a half at Birmingham the valley gradually broadens until at 
 Bessemer it is three to three and a half miles from range to ran<jc. 
 
 This anticlinal valley is distinguished in geological history as 
 being at one time the scene of an intense seismic disturbance or 
 upheaval, which projected the subcarboniferous stratas of limestone 
 to the surface, leaving them in vertical or distorted ledges, throw ing to 
 one side immense seams and massesof ferruginous rock, now forming 
 the mightiest and most wonderful iron deposits in the world, while 
 on the other side vast lie. is and fields of coal were disclosed. Thus 
 inclose juxtaposition are the complementary elements that com- 
 bined creates the most powerful and economic factor in modern 
 civilization. 
 
 This great upheaval gave features to the scenery strikingly pic- 
 turesque and beautiful. Heavily wooded hills and mountains; large 
 is of fertile valley and uplands; innumerable bold flowing springs 
 of free ami mineral waters, clear, cool and limpid; swift running 
 streams ; the most perfect drainage : a wealth of beautiful and attrac- 
 tive verdure and a magnificent forest growth of the lordly oak, the 
 stately pine, the graceful cedar and the rich foliaged hickory, the 
 walnut, chestnut, ash ami elm. 
 
 Thesiti B :mer is over six hundred feet above sea level and 
 the bordering foothills and mountains will give an additional eleva- 
 tion of from two to five hundred feet. 
 
 5 
 
Bessemer was founded in the springof 1S87; the first sale of lots 
 taking place on the 12th day of April of that year. 
 
 The city has now a population of over 5,000. It has a regular 
 municipal government under a charter granted by the State legisla- 
 ture. It supports free public schools; is constantly prosecuting a 
 system of street and public improvements; has secured the establish- 
 ment of costly and extensive water-works ; has established and is 
 constantly extending a system of sewerage; has erected a large and 
 expensive city hall ; has the streets of the city lighted by electricity ; 
 sustains an efficient fire department, and is zealous in its efforts to 
 promote the growth and interests of the city. 
 
 A detailed enumeration of the industries and business houses 
 and establishments of the city, with descriptions of the more prom- 
 inent constructions with other specific information may be found on 
 other pages. 
 
 For specific information as to the geographical location of the 
 city and its relation to contiguous points, mountain ranges, water 
 courses, and the existence of valuable natural resources, references 
 is made to the maps herewith attached. 
 
 THE PRODUCTION OF IRON. 
 
 The elements entering into the production of pig iron are iron 
 ore, coke and limestone. 
 
 IRON ORE. 
 
 The geology of Alabama shows the existence at Bessemer of a 
 mountain of fossiliferous hematite or red fossiliferous iron ore. This 
 mountain, which is a range of mountains, forming the southeast 
 boundary of the valley in which Bessemer is located, is within a 
 stone's throw of the corporate limits of the city (as will be seen from 
 the map attached) and has a varying height above the valley of from 
 two hundred and fifty to fixe hundred feet. The ore is in regular 
 veins or stratas varying in thickness from five to twenty feet, with 
 medium partings, aggregating at this point a thickness of fort}- feet 
 iron ore within a sixty foot measurement at right angles to their 
 direction. 
 
 The ore veins crop out on the summit or on the northwestern 
 trend of the range. At Bessemer there were found uncovered at the 
 highest point, immense ledges of the ore, moss covered, for decades 
 past forming obstructions in the pathway of the hunter and to 
 stock on the range, much to the disgust of the native, who saw no 
 value in or use for these "huge red rocks," or as many termed the 
 out-crop "dye rocks." The stratas of ore have a declination to the 
 southeast of about thirty degrees. They have been traced and fol- 
 lowed far into Shades Valley (which is bounded on the southwest by 
 
 6 
 
Red Mountain range), where they show practically the same inclina- 
 tion, thickness of vein and quality of ore. By some geologists it is 
 asserted that similar to the coal basins of the Black Warrior Coal 
 fields, these stratas of ore deposits likewise form an immense basin, 
 reaching a level in the course of a distance of four or less miles, then 
 rising at a similar angle crop out at the summit or southeastern trend 
 of the Sand Mountains, forming the right or west bank of the 
 Cahaba River. This theory, if sustained by facts, determines the 
 existence of the most remarkable and enormous body of ore in the 
 world, under conditions of the most surprising economy for mining, 
 with billions of tons above the water level. But in the absence of a 
 basin formation centuries of persistent mining with yearly outputs 
 of ore sufficient to make the present iron product of the United 
 States will not exhaust the deposits within four miles of Bessemer. 
 
 The Red Mountain range covering the outcrop of this extraor- 
 dinary deposit of iron ore extends for many miles in a northeasterly 
 and southwesterly direction, but at no point do the veins show such 
 a remarkable thickness, such unusual purity of the ore and absence 
 of silica, and such astounding economical conditions for mining as 
 at Bessemer. Hence four-fifths of the total out put of iron ore in 
 the State of Alabama is mined within four miles # of the city of Bes- 
 semer, and from these mines ores are furnished to the Chattanooga, 
 Gadsden, Birmingham, Ensley City and many other furnaces. 
 
 Besides the deposits of the Red Mountain range, the Rock 
 Mountains bordering the Bessemer Valley on the southwest, separat- 
 ing it from the great Black Warrior Coal fields contains large 
 deposits of both the red and brown ores. A mile to the west of 
 Bessemer an immense body of brown hematite has been uncovered, 
 and a few miles to the southwest, at Greeley and Gothite, are the 
 largest bodies and masses of brown hematite ore, as well as the 
 most famous in this country. These deposits are owned by the 
 DeBardeleben Coal and Iron Company and the Thomas Pioneer Iron 
 Company. 
 
 The ore is mined at Bessemer, and loaded into tram cars at a 
 varying cost of from thirty-five to forty-five cents per ton. The 
 freight from the mines to the furnaces in Bessemer ranges from three 
 to five dollars per car of thirty to thirty-five tons. The red ores 
 yield practically from forty to fifty per cent, of metal while assaying 
 from forty-five to sixty-three per cent., while the brown ores yield 
 forty-five to fifty-five per cent, while assaying fifty to sixty-five per 
 cent. 
 
 The red ores can be delivered at the furnaces at a cost of about 
 fifty cents per ton, while the brown ores cost from twenty-five to 
 fifty per cent. more. 
 
 The red ores are mined by improved drill machinery, run by 
 
 8 
 
Compressed air ; the veins being laminated, cleave readily and regu- 
 larly, immense masses of man}- tons being precipitated at a single 
 blast. The ore as mined is ready for the furnace. The cap stone 
 overlying the ore stratas is of compact sandstone or conglomerate, so 
 that but little if any expense for timbering is incurred. 
 
 These ores are mined from slopes entering from the crown of the 
 range and from lateral drifts entering the veins at its breaks or passes. 
 
 COAL. 
 
 There are 9,000 square miles of coal fields in Northern Alabama, 
 covering in many places series of scams showing a vertical depth of 
 from forty to ninety feet of coal. The Black Warrior Coal fields 
 contains nine-tenths of this area, and are divided from the valley at 
 Bessemer" by the Rock Mountain range. The coal measures of this 
 division reach to within one mile of the corporate limits of the city. 
 The Cahaba Coal fields, the next largest and richest division, lie 
 some half a dozen miles to the south of Bessemer. The bulk of coal 
 from both of these fields is of excellent coking quality. The remain- 
 ing division, and the smaller and least important, is the Coosa Coal 
 fields in Northeast Alabama. 
 
 The Blue Creek basin, in the Warrior Coal fields, belonging to 
 the DeBardeleben Coal and Iron Company, lies five miles southwest 
 of Bessemer. It is the richest and most remarkable field of coal in 
 the South. It crops out for miles along the line of the Bessemer and 
 Tuscaloosa Railroad, and slopes in at an angle of about twelve to 
 twenty degrees. At a distance of about thirteen hundred feet the 
 level or basin is reached, which is maintained for three or four hun- 
 dred feet, when the same degree of ascent begins, and the coal crops 
 out on the opposite side of the basin. The main seam now being 
 worked is nine feet in thickness. Thirty-five feet beneath this is 
 another seam of four feet, which is entered from the level or basin, 
 and is worked by the machinery and through the slopes of the main 
 seam, thus enabling thirteen feet of coal to be worked from one 
 slope. From three slopes now open 2,500 tons daily can be taken. 
 The production can be readily increased to 4,000 tons daily by the 
 extension of slopes now partially completed. 
 
 The Bessemer Blue Creek coal makes a coke not excelled in this 
 country, as will be seen from the analysis. A careful estimate of the 
 coal in the Blue Creek basin, in the two seams described available 
 for mining, shows that it will afford a daily output of 10,000 tons for 
 250 years. Other workable seams below the two mentioned exist, 
 but no effort has been made to locate them, as there will be no occa- 
 sion for their development for decades, if for centuries to come. 
 
 In the Blue Creek mines, during the prevalence of the present 
 price of pig iron, the miners receive forty-two and one-half cents per 
 
 10 
 
ton for mining and delivery, furnishing their own tools, mining sup- 
 plies and doing their own track laying. They make better wages 
 than miners elsewhere receiving fifty to ninety cents per ton, while 
 the expense of the operator in delivering for shipment is but trifling 
 compared to the expense of mines generally. The railroad rate for 
 transportation to Bessemer is $3.50 per car of thirty-five tons. 
 
 Coal is delivered in Bessemer at a cost of less than 80 cents a 
 ton to the operator, and coke is made from it in Bessemer at a cost 
 of about $1.75 per ton. 
 
 The Woodward Coal mines are three miles from Bessemer. 
 While the Pratt Coal mines, the most famous, but far from the 
 richest, are eight miles, and the Blocton mines from which Anniston 
 obtains all of its coal, are twenty miles to the southwest. 
 
 There are within twenty-five miles of Bessemer 600,000 acres of 
 coal fields, which at lowest estimate will practically yield 30,000,000,- 
 000 tons. A daily supply of 10,000 tons for 8,000 years. 
 
 LIMESTONE. 
 
 The Trenton limestone crops out vertically throughout Jones 
 Valley, and at points it is found in enormous masses, projected 
 high above the level of the valley and in places forming the bulk of 
 huge mountains. This is noticeably the case at Gate City, sixteen 
 miles above Bessemer. The limestone is of the purest quality, 
 analyzing 98 per cent, of lime. It is delivered at the Bessemer fur- 
 naces at sixty cents per ton. 
 
 THE COST OF PIG IRON. 
 
 It would be interesting to give quotations as to the actual cost 
 of producing iron in Bessemer, but there are so many vaiying condi- 
 tions in mining the component parts as also so many elements in 
 the economics of furnace work, that it would not be possible to give 
 figures that would be accurate for the whole, and individual exhibits 
 would serve no good purpose in this narrative. Suffice it to use the 
 pregnant words of Ex-Mayor Hewitt, of New York, who says: 
 
 "This section of Alabama is the only place on the North Amer- 
 ican Continent where it is possible to make iron in competition with 
 the cheap iron of England." 
 
 OFFICIAL AND EMINENT AUTHORITY 
 
 on the iron ores, coal deposits and iron making resources of Bes- 
 semer : 
 
 Prof. Henry McCalley, A. M., C. & M. E. Chemist and assistant 
 State Geologist of Alabama, says of the red fossiliferous ore of Bes- 
 semer: "This famous ore is specially well developed there, where 
 with its partings of shale it reaches an average thickness of some 
 
 12 
 
thirty feet, well defined between strata of non-ferruginous sandstone^ 
 and is of superior quality both as to purity and richness. This 
 deposit is not only the largest in the State, but is regarded as one of 
 the mineral wonders of the world." 
 
 Prof. McCalley speaking of the Warrior Coal fields says: "The 
 measures thicken and become more productive of coal from the 
 northeast to the southwest until they reach a thickness of 3,000 feet 
 with about fifty seams of coal. These seams of coal range in thick- 
 ness from a few inches to some 14 feet, and at least thirty-five of 
 them with a total thickness of about 90 feet are of workable thick- 
 ness, or are of 19 inches and more in thickness. * * * The 
 Warrior Coal fields is destined in the near future to be the center of 
 large industries, and to be one of the greatest coal producing areas 
 in the United States." 
 
 Hon. Abram S. Hewitt says this section "is the only place upon 
 the North American Continent where it is possible to make iron in 
 competition with the cheap iron of England." 
 
 Mr. Hewitt has lately stated in England that iron can be made 
 here at a cost of $7.50 per ton. 
 
 Col. A. K. McClure says he believes this section "will be the 
 future coal and iron empire of the United States." 
 
 ANALYSES OF BESSEMER IRON ORE, COAL AND COKE. 
 
 IRON ORE — RED ORE FROM LARGE VIEN NEAR BESSEMER, ANALYZED 
 BY CHAUVENET & BLAIR. 
 
 Silica I2.l8 
 
 Peroxide iron 80.92 
 
 Alumina 2.68 
 
 Lime 0.28 
 
 Magnesia 0.39 
 
 Phosphoric acid 0.292 
 
 Water 2.960 
 
 99.702 
 Metallic iron 56.64 
 
 IRON ORE — RED ORE FROM LARGE VEIN NEAR BESSEMER. 
 
 Water 2.30 
 
 Peroxide iron 76.16 
 
 Silica 1 8.40 
 
 Alumina 1.74 
 
 Carbonate lime 0.3 1 
 
 Phosphorus O.67 
 
 Sulphur O.28 
 
 99.86 
 
 Metallic Iron. . . 53-31 
 
 Phosphorus 0. 18 
 
 14 
 
IRON ORE RED HEMATITE, M BARDELEBEN COAL AND [RON COM- 
 PANY MINES, Ml RPHREE'S VALLEY. 
 
 Sesqui-oxide of iron 83.6807 
 
 Phosphoric acid 0.3 
 
 Silicic acid 1 1.193 
 
 Metallic iron 5 s ?,"" 
 
 Phosphorus 0.14S 
 
 Silica 0.93 
 
 [RON ORE BROWN HEMATITE, DE BARDELEBEN COAL VND [RON 
 
 I 1 >\n\\\\ . S( 'I I 1IWI SI "1 B1 SSEMER. 
 
 Silica 4-307 
 
 Metallic iron 57-50 
 
 Phosphorus 0.3142 
 
 (AL- FROM THE BESSEMER BLU1 CREEK BASIN MINES. 
 
 Moisture Ad., 2 1 2 deg., Fahr 4.307 
 
 Volatile -7 557 
 
 Fixed carbon 66.219 
 
 Sulphur 0.656 
 
 Ash 483 
 
 100. 
 C< IKE MAPI'. FR( >M BLUI CREEK BASIN COA1 . 
 
 Moisture 0.25 
 
 Volatile 0.4 
 
 Fixed carbon 92.3268 
 
 Sulphur O.8232 
 
 Ash 62 
 
 100. 
 GENERAL MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES. 
 
 The most essential requisites for successful manufacturing are: 
 
 An ample supply of raw material at low cost. 
 
 An eligible location with economical conveniences and favorable 
 surrounding conditions for the home and satisfaction of labor. 
 
 A central commercial position, with ample and competing facili- 
 ties for distribution and easy accessibility to markets. 
 
 Iron, steel and wood are largely the basis and hulk of nearly all 
 manufactures. Iron is produced at the least cost at Bessemer of any 
 place on the Western continent. Steel of the best quality can be 
 made by the basic process from Red Mountain pig iron at a much 
 less cost than steel has ever been made before in this country. Both 
 iron and steel are rolled or manufactured into merchantable forms of 
 almost every conceivable degree by the Bessemer Rolling Mills. 
 
 15 
 
Timber of nearly all of the most merchantable varieties covers 
 this section. Lumber from the resinous or yellow pire is sold in 
 Bessemer from $8 to $ioper thousand feet. Cedar is in great abund- 
 ance, while the different kinds of oak, ash, g.um, black walnut, hickory 
 and other varieties of forest growth are found in the territory sur- 
 rounding and tributary to Bessemer in enormous quantities and 
 available at a remarkably low cost. 
 
 Fire clay and chert for fire brick and furnace blocks, clay for 
 building brick, pure sand for glass making, crystalized limestone or 
 marble for finishing or ornamentation, quarries of both sand and 
 limestone for building purposes are here in immense beds. 
 
 Cotton is largely raised in this section. 
 
 The expanse of the valley at Bessemer, with the radiating lines 
 of competing railways and an abundant water supply gives innumer- 
 able eligible sites for manufacturing enterprises, and with an inex- 
 haustible supply of fuel at a minimum of cost surrounds their estab- 
 lishment with conditions of convenience and economy that cannot 
 be rivalled, while the healthy conditions of climate, the beauty and 
 attractiveness of the country, ample school and church facilities, 
 opportunities for enjoyment and diversion, abundant and reasonable 
 produce markets, fair rentals and easy opportunities for securing 
 homes, makes residence for all classes here a pleasure and homes 
 eagerly sought. 
 
 The position of Bessemer commercially, geographically, and as 
 a distributing point is singularly advantageous and central. It is 
 midway between New Orleans and Louisville, Savannah and St. 
 Louis, Mobile and Nashville, Atlanta and Memphis, Meridian and 
 Chattanooga, with each of which she has quick railroad communi- 
 cation. 
 
 Seven lines of railway now run to Bessemer and three other lines 
 are surveyed and in process of construction. A full description of 
 Bessemer's Railway system is given on another page and an accurate 
 idea of it is obtainable by a reference to the map. 
 
 Any one seeking openings for manufacturingof almost any char- 
 acter can determine from the information here given the degree of 
 advantage that Bessemer will afford. 
 
 Of the various lines of manufacture those which find a lucrative 
 and expanding market in the great West and Southwest will find in 
 Bessemer a location unrivalled for their establishment. For the 
 more bulky creations of iron, steel and woodwork, whether in the 
 shape of a steam engine and kindred constructions, of enormous 
 castings of iron or steel, or of agricultural implements or of furniture 
 and builders' supplies, the advantages of position here will immedi- 
 ately command the discriminating mind. Beside the inexhaustible 
 supply of raw materials, the eligibility and advantage of situation, 
 
 10 
 
■""" 
 
 
the distributing facilities of this city are remarkably complete and 
 comprehensive. Bessemer is the converging point of four grand 
 systems of railway lines, which with their branches and connections 
 cover the great West and Southwest, viz : the Louisville and Nash- 
 ville system, reaching the Gulf ports and connecting with the South- 
 ern Pacific and Mexican Railways; the Queen and Crescent, crossing 
 the Mississippi at both Vicksburg and New Orleans; the Georgia 
 Pacific, crossing the Mississippi at Greenville, and the Kansas City, 
 Memphis and Birmingham, crossing the Mississippi at Memphis. 
 
 Through the medium of these lines that enormous territory is 
 reached and its markets made tributary to the manufactures of this 
 city. Bessemer is not only the nearest distributing, point to that 
 vast territory, but is noticeably central to all of the Southern mar- 
 kets, and especially accessible to the growing markets of the West 
 India Islands, Mexican, Central and South America. The enormous 
 possibilities of development in these latter fields is now largely 
 engaging the attention of business men and statesmen in this country, 
 and it is safe to predict that but a brief period will elapse before the 
 demand for and consumption of the manufactured products of this 
 country will be increased many fold. 
 
 In the fabrication of textile products the conditions are so 
 favorable and superior that the establishment of this industry on a 
 large scale is a matter of immediate and momentous interest. With 
 fine grades of cotton raised in abundance, at hand, a specially favor- 
 able climate, and the cheapest supplies of fuel possible, there seems 
 no essential wanting to insure the foundation here of this important 
 industry. The field for the manufacture of textile fabric in all grades 
 is here illimitable. 
 
 Of the minor and novelty manufactures, the proximity of mar- 
 kets, the availability of material and facilities for distribution are 
 potent factors in promoting and securing their establishment. 
 
 FRUIT CULTURE AND TRUCK FARMING. 
 
 The concentration of population affords a regular and stable 
 market for the products of the truck farmer, fruit grower, poultry 
 raiser and dairyman. Their most liberal and steady patrons are the 
 skillful wage earner and the miner; those who earn good wages and 
 spend the same freely for their table supplies. 
 
 Before the development of iron production in this section, Jones 
 Valley and the contiguous valleys and table lands were regarded as 
 generously productive, yielding freely of cotton, corn, wheat, oats, 
 and all kinds of vegetables and fruits. A half bale of cotton, forty 
 bushels of corn, twenty of wheat and forty of oats to the acre were 
 not unusual results, and with ordinary good cultivation and attention 
 the yield will now exceed these figures. 
 
 18 
 
The soil is of a red, sandy, clayey loam, deep and inclined to be 
 tenacious. It retains fertilizers and manures admirably, and when 
 thus stimulated and fed, there seems no limit to the extent of pro- 
 duction. This has been especially demonstrated in tracts devoted to 
 gardening or truck farming, which yield frequently products of a 
 value of over three hundred dollars to the acre annually. Home- 
 made manures are especially beneficial. 
 
 With moderate fertilizing and careful and deep cultivation, 
 good yields are almost certainties. The exigencies of the climate 
 seldom affect the crops. The distribution of the rainfall is generally 
 regular and seasonable. 
 
 STOCK RAISING AND DAIRYING. 
 
 Prior to the late war the farmers did not regard this valley and 
 section as possessing advantages for stock raising. Though the range 
 was unlimited, yet the grazing was inferior, the native grasses being 
 scant and of poor quality; clover had not been introduced, and blue 
 and June grass and red top would not take without fertilizing. 
 Hence, only a moderate quantity of stock was raised. But soon 
 after the'close of the war the farmers noticed a strange grass or 
 plant growing in the commons, and in the timber, the valleys, and 
 even upon the summits or crowns of high mountains. It seemed to 
 cover the surface of the country almost as it were in a night. The 
 cattle, horses, sheep and hogs grazed it with avidity and rapidly fat- 
 tened and flourished. The plant would grow, take deep root and 
 form a mass of verdure in what before were barren places, even in 
 deeped washed gullies. 
 
 This grass was discovered to be the now famous Lespedeza or 
 Japan clover. It was introduced into Florida from Japan before 
 the war. By some providential means — how, it is not known, but 
 supposed to be through the medium of cavalry horses — it was intro- 
 duced into this section and other sections of the South. It has been 
 a perfect windfall. It is one of the richest forage grasses. Stock of 
 all kinds thrive upon it. A glance at the stock, always sleek and in 
 fine condition, grazing in this valley, will impress any observer with 
 the conviction that this must be a superb stock country. 
 
 The finer grades of cattle, the Jerseys, Alderneys, &c, flourish 
 as readily as the more hardy native born. The flow of milk and the 
 yield of butter is as abundant as in any section, and the universal 
 existence and general distribution of cold, clear, free flowing springs 
 make this an almost ideal dairy country. 
 
 FRUIT GROWING. 
 
 Travelers through this section see numerous old orchards of 
 the apple, peach, cherry and pear. In former times old settlers 
 
 20 
 
assert that there was an abundance of fruit raised, and fruit of the 
 finest varieties. It is still abundant and of excellent quality, but 
 orchards have been neglected and have somewhat deteriorated. 
 The farmers failing to adapt themselves to the necessities and 
 advantages of changed conditions resort to the mines and furnaces 
 where they can the more readily realize from their labor. But that 
 the climate and country is adapted to the various kinds of fruit suf- 
 ficient practically is seen on every side. 
 
 The grape thrives vigorously and small fruit of nearly all kinds 
 are in their prime. The country is covered with the dew and black- 
 berry, the whortleberry, the plum and the persimmon. The straw- 
 berry reaches its highest development. 
 
 Various kind of nut trees are found in the forests, which bear 
 bountifully. Among them the walnut, the hickory and the chestnut. 
 
 POULTRY RAISING. 
 
 This section of Alabama seems to be a natural home for the 
 fowl. The earlier settlers found the woods swarming with the wild 
 turkey, the pigeon, and the partridge, and the domestic breed of 
 fowls thrive to perfection. Immense quantities are now raised. In 
 some instances artificial hatching or the use of large incubators is 
 resorted to, and invariably with great success, but in spite of the 
 present extent of the industry and the large quantities of eggs and 
 chickens marketed, the demand is far from being met by the supply. 
 
 There is every requisite here for successful poultry raising, and 
 no more profitable field for it can be found in any country. 
 
 LANDS. 
 
 For stock raising and dairying, truck farming and fruit growing 
 lands sell within an area of five or six miles from Bessemer from six 
 to one hundred dollars per acre. There are thousands of acres 
 overlying the ore beds and coal measures that are fertile and suscep- 
 tible of large yields and easily brought into cultivation. 
 
 RESIDENCE AND HOME. 
 
 Enough information has been presented in the listing of facts 
 on previous subjects to clearly establish the premise that Bessemer 
 and its environs possess superior attractions for residence and home. 
 All character of sites, in valley, upland, highland or mountain, 
 covered with greenest sward, richest foliage or grandest forest 
 growths, are available. The climate is superb, with an average mean 
 winter temperature of 42 Fah., a mean summer temperature of J2° 
 Fah., and a mean annual temperature of 58 Fah., with an abundant 
 and pure water supply, and an average yearly rainfall of 54 inches. 
 
 22 
 
a. 
 
 J, 
 
Quick and frequent communications exists throughout the valley 
 and to all parts of the country. With these attributes, indisputable, 
 the requisites for a residence and home are afforded in their most 
 attractive form. 
 
 THE WORKMAN, MECHANIC AND BUSINESS MAN 
 
 can certainly find a fitting field in this section for their labor and their 
 enterprise. Millions and billions of wealth is here dormant, in 
 nature's greatest, richest storehouse. Thousands and thousands are 
 daily wrought from it and thrown into the channels of business and 
 industrial life. 10,000 tons of coal and 5,000 tons of iron ore are 
 daily mined, the first within an area of fifteen miles, the latter within 
 an area of six miles of the city of Bessemer, and yet the development 
 so far is scarcely noticeable. 
 
 $150,000 is paid out monthly in mining, furnaces, rolling mills 
 and other industries within a distance of four miles centering at 
 Bessemer. 
 
 Can there be a more inviting prospect to the laborer, the arti- 
 san, or the business man? 
 
 THE RAILWAY SYSTEM OF BESSEMER. 
 
 In an area of four blocks, nine lines of railways center: 
 
 The Queen and Crescent Railroad. 
 
 The Louisville and Nashville Mineral Line. 
 
 The Bessemer and Huntsville Railroad. 
 
 The Georgia Pacific Railroad. 
 
 The Kansas City, Memphis and Bessemer. 
 
 The Bessemer and Tuscaloosa Railroad. 
 
 Bessemer and Birmingham Railway. 
 
 All of these lines are running to Bessemer. The Bessemer and 
 Huntsville is completed as far as Chepultepec, sixty miles on the 
 way up Murphree's Valley, with its ultimate terminal point at 
 Huntsville. 
 
 The Bessemer and Tuscaloosa is completed to Woodstock, a 
 distance of thirty miles, lacking only eighteen miles of reaching 
 Tuscaloosa. At Woodstock this line connects with the Blocton Coal 
 Mines Railway. 
 
 The line of the Mobile and Bessemer Railroad will center in this 
 area. This road, which is part of that great Southern system, the 
 
 EAST TENNESSEE, VIRGINIA AND GEORGIA, 
 
 under a new local organization, is now being rapidly graded to 
 Bessemer from Blocton, which is on the line of survey of the Mobile 
 and Bessemer, and from Montevallo which is directly south of Bes- 
 semer on the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia line. From these 
 
 24 
 
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two points these two lines converge and meet about ten miles below 
 Bessemer, and come to this city over one track. An immense force 
 is now at work grading this line. It is expected that it will be fully 
 completed and trains running to Bessemer by July, 1890. At this 
 point this line for the time being will use the tracks of the Georgia 
 Pacific to Birmingham. It is stated that this great system will 
 extend branches to the various iron ore and coal mines throughout 
 this section. From Bessemer this line will be extended to Huntsville 
 to connect there with the Memphis and Charleston, which belongs 
 to this system. The completion of this line to Bessemer, gives this 
 city another competing and trunk line to the Gulf, through trains 
 running from this point to Mobile. 
 
 The Sheffield & Bessemer Railroad is projected to Bessemer. 
 It is now built as far as Jasper, forty miles northwest of Bessemer. 
 
 The Birmingham, Powderly & Bessemer Street Railway, con- 
 necting the two cities, Birmingham and Bessemer, is completed and 
 running to Hillman, within three miles of Bessemer, and is graded 
 to this city. It will run down the center of Jones Valley, parallel- 
 ing largely the Alabama Great Southern Railroad track. This line 
 completed makes the fourth line of railway in Jones Valley, connect- 
 ing Bessemer and Birmingham. 
 
 A Belt line connects all the lines of the city and encircles the 
 manufacturing section, affording most perfect transportation con- 
 veniences for our various industries. 
 
 A railroad has been partly built, branching off to the west, 
 northwest from the Bessemer & Tuscaloosa Railroad, passing into 
 and through an unusually rich coal field of coking coal, eighteen 
 miles west of Bessemer. 
 
 This coal field, adjoining and lying north of the famous Blue 
 Creek Coal Basin, is directly tributary to Bessemer, and in but a year 
 or two its yearly output of a million tons or more will pass into and 
 through this city. 
 
 There are now, at least, twenty miles of railroad sidings in Bes- 
 semer, and these are already overtasked by the traffic developed. 
 
 The Alabama Great Southern, the Louisville and Nashville, the 
 Georgia Pacific, and the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham 
 Railroads each have depot buildings in Bessemer already con- 
 structed. 
 
 The map attached will give an excellent idea of Bessemer's rail- 
 way system, 
 
 20 
 
The [qcUistries &f Besseitfer, 
 
 The leading industries and enterprises of B< n r, established 
 and in operat i' >n, are : 
 
 THE FURNACES. 
 
 Till Dl BARD] I I BEN COAl AND [RON COMPANY CON- 
 SOLIDATED, CAPITA] §10,000,000 
 
 In December last the DeBardel >al and Iron 
 
 npany of tins city, owning the two new 125 ton 
 furnaces now in blast in this city, 480 coke < >\ in^ ad- 
 joining its furnace plant : 200 coke uncus at Johns, at 
 the Blue Crock Mines, some five miles of railway in 
 connection with it- furnaces and coke ovens; the cel- 
 ebrated Bessemer Blue Creek Coal Mines, some forty 
 thousand acres of the richest coal lands in the South; 
 a large area <>f the Red Mountain Iron On Mines, 
 ntering at Sparks' Gap, three mile- from Bessemer, 
 anil many thousands of acres of brown and red hema- 
 tite ore lands southwest of Bessemer, at Greeley and 
 in Murphree's Valley, and thousands of acres of coal 
 lands in the latter valley; and tie I'. - mer Iron and 
 i Company, owning two furnaces, which have just 
 gone into blast, each 17 feet bosh by J? in height, 
 with daily capacity of 125 tons, and six W'hitwell 
 improved ovens or stoves, various auxiliary structures, 
 cast and stock houses ^\nA engine house already com- 
 pleted and of most elaborate and substantial con- 
 struction, ami adjoining its furnace plant two 
 immense batteries of coke ovens, each of 200 o\ ■ 
 400 in all; the rich Henry Ellen Coal Mines, now 
 yielding Soo tons of coal daily, besides many thou- 
 sand acres of other coal and red and brown hematite 
 ore lands; and the Little Belle lion Company having 
 a seventy-five ton 15 feet bosh charcoal or coke 
 iron furnace just completed and now ready to be put 
 in blast, and the Eureka Furnace Company, owning 
 the two 100 ton furnaces at Oxmoor, and five miles 
 of the richest section of the Red Mountain iron ore 
 
 27 
 
deposits, with scams showing a vertical face of twenty 
 feet of ore; the famous Helena Coal Mines, in the 
 Cahaba coal fields, were consolidated and formed into 
 one company, to be known as the DeBardelebcn C oal 
 and Iron Company Consolidated, of Bessemer, having 
 a capital of $10,000,000, and owning 140,000 acres of 
 the best mineral lands — iron ore and coal — in the 
 South. 
 
 This Company carries nearly 2000 men on its pay 
 rolls, which aggregate fully $75. 000 each month. 
 
 ROLLING MILLS. 
 
 The Bessemer Rolling Mills, Capitai $ 500,000 
 
 Have the largest plant in the South. They have 24 
 puddling furnaces and seven trains or mills. The ca- 
 pacity of the mills is 100 tons daily. The machinery 
 is of the heaviest and most elaborate character, and 
 was specially purchased of a character and strength 
 to roll steel. 
 
 The mills have a department for the manufac- 
 ture of corrugated iron, and turn out five to ten tons 
 daily. 
 
 About 700 hands are employed regularly. 
 
 The Rolling Mills have been in operation since 
 August 1, 1888. 
 
 FOUNDRIES AND MACHINE SHOPS. 
 
 G. W. Beggs & Bros., Foundry and Machine Shops, 
 
 Capital $ 50,000 
 
 A large plant, castings, construction and repairing, 
 employ 25 to 35 men. 
 
 Birmingham & Bessemer Railway Machine Shops, 
 
 Capital $ 20,000 
 
 Repairing and construction. 
 
 PLANING AND SAW MILLS. 
 
 Bessemer Manufacturing Company, Capital $ 50,000 
 
 All kinds of wood working machinery. Furniture 
 manufactured. Employs from 40 to 60 hands. 
 
 The Steel City Lumber Company, Capitai $ 10,000 
 
 Manufactures pine and hard lumber, and various kinds 
 of dressed building materials. 
 
 38 
 
TERRA COTTA, SEWER PIPE, FIRE AND BUILDING 
 
 BRICK. 
 
 The Bessemer Fire Brick Company, Capital S 50,000 
 
 Manufactures fire brick and furnace blocks, sewer 
 pipe and terra cotta; lias the largest plant in this 
 country; employs 175 men at yards and clay banks. 
 
 Bessemer Brick Company, Capitai S 50,000 
 
 I las a capacity of 50,000 brick daily. Employs abi mt 
 50 men. 
 
 Marvel City Brick Company, Capitai S 25,000 
 
 I la- a capacity of $5,000 daily, Employs 35 hands. 
 
 • .1 re's Brick Yard, Capitai S 10,000 
 
 Capacity of 25,000 daily. 
 
 Tin i'i eri 1 ss Brick and Construction Co., Capital.! 40,000 
 Just being established, with improved machinery to 
 make the finest pressed brick and blocks, with a capaci- 
 ty of IOO.OOO brick daily — the largest in the State. 
 
 ICE MANUFACTURING. 
 
 BESSEMIR IlK ManUFA< TORY AND STORAGE COMPANY, 
 
 Capitai S 15,000 
 
 Have a large plant in operation, furnish ice fur city 
 consumption and adjacent towns. 
 
 MINERAL WATER MANUFACTURING. 
 
 Bessemer Mineral Water Manufactory, Capital, $ 5,000 
 
 Manufactures in large quantities mineral and aerated 
 
 water- of all kinds, for consumption in city and sur- 
 rounding towns. 
 
 NEWSPAPERS AND JOB PRINTING. 
 
 Bessemer Printing am. Publishing Co., Capital..! 40,000 
 
 Publishes the " BESSEMER," and does book and job 
 
 work. 
 
 Bessi m 1 k J( >i rnal, Capitai .$ 5,000 
 
 Newspaper and job office. 
 
 FLOUR MILLS. 
 
 iard's Flouring Mills, Capitai $ 3,000 
 
 METAL WORK. 
 
 Hi ssemer Cornice Works, Capital $ 5,000 
 
 Manufactures metal cornices, facades, &c. 
 
 29 
 
CARRIAGE AND WAGON MANUFACTURING. 
 
 Morris & Mims Carriage Shops, Capitai § 3,000 
 
 Construction and repairing. 
 
 DUMMY LINES. 
 
 The Bessemer Dummy Line. Capitai $ 200,000 
 
 (Latch- chartered as the Bessemer & Birmingham 
 R. R.) has 19 miles of track, 5 engines, 15 cars, runs 
 from Bessemer up Jones Valley to Birmingham, twenty 
 passenger trains daily, carries freight and passengers. 
 
 Birmingham, Powderly & Bessemer Railway, Cap- 
 ital $ 250,000 
 
 Bessemer to Birmingham, south side Jones Valley, 
 owned by Bessemer, Valley and Birmingham interests. 
 
 ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER. 
 Bessemer Electric Light and Power Company, 
 
 Capital .... $ 50,000 
 
 Have large brick plant. Lights the city, furnaces 
 and rolling mills, and supplies private consumers with 
 arc and incandescent lights. 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 Bessemer Water Works Company, Capital and 
 
 Cost $ 125,000 
 
 Has extensive plant, 2,000,000 gallons capacity daily. 
 
 DYNAMITE FACTORY. 
 
 Standard Dynamite Factory, Capital $ 25,000 
 
 Manufactures standard Dynamite. 
 
 BANKS. 
 
 First National Bank of Bessemer, Capital paid in, $ 50.000 
 
 Total Capital $11,343,000 
 
 And to this list and aggregate can also be properly 
 added — 
 The Woodward Coal and Iron Company, Capital. .$ 1,000,000 
 Having two large furnaces, 17x75 feet, each of a ca- 
 pacity of 125 tons of pig iron daily, and iron ore and 
 coal mines within two miles of the furnaces. 
 
 These furnaces are but a mile from Bessemer, 
 and the employment given there and the trade of 
 the place inures largely to the benefit of this city. 
 
 Adding the amount of the capital of this com- 
 pany to the total before given gives an aggregate of . .$12,343,000 
 
 30 
 
Iii addition to these industries, the iron ore mines 
 of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company, the Sloss 
 Iron and Steel Company, and the Woodward Iron 
 Company, which are within a quarter of a mile of the 
 city limits of Bessemer, and which employ regularly 
 between too and 800 hand-, can very properly be 
 called Bessemer industries, as the trade and support 
 of their employees centers largely in this city. 
 
 In addition to these specific industries, there are 
 large and important enterprises here, which by heavy 
 investments and extensive construction and improve- 
 ments and the use "i" large capital, are contributing 
 greatly to the growth and development of Bessemer, 
 as follows : 
 
 LAND AND BUILDING COMPANIES. 
 
 The Bessemer Land and Improvement Co.. capital.. .$ 2,500,000 
 
 The Carolina Real Estat iany, capital 300,000 
 
 The South Bessemer Homestead Company, capital. . 250,000 
 
 The Natchez Land and Improvement Co., capital. . . 200,000 
 
 The Orleans Land and Building Company, capital.. . 100,000 
 
 The Richmond Building Company, capital 60,000 
 
 The Bessemer Investment Company, capital 40,000 
 
 The Magnetic Ore Company, capital 500,000 
 
 This Company owns many thousand acres of 
 choice and rich mineral lands surrounding and 
 in proximity to Bessemer. 
 
 Aggregating S 3.950,000 
 
 The Bessemer Building and Loan Association, author- 
 ized capital 250,000 
 
 Has been in operation since the 1st of January, 
 1888. 
 Adding the total of the capital of the land and build- 
 ing companies, excepting the last mentioned com- 
 pany 1 whose capital will require seven years in 
 which to mature), we have showing the amount 
 invested in the industries of Bessemer, with the 
 capital of its various land and building companies, 
 
 rand total of $l6.2r,3,000 
 
 THE CHURCH AND SCHOOL FACILITIES. 
 
 The following denominations have church buildings of ample 
 capacities erected in the city of Bessemer 
 
 31 
 
The Methodist Episcopal South. 
 
 The Episcopalians. 
 
 The Presbyterians. 
 
 The Baptists. 
 
 The Cumberland Presbyterians. 
 
 The Roman Catholics. 
 
 All the foregoing have regular service except the Cumberland 
 Presbyterians. 
 
 The colored people have churches and regular services of the 
 following denominations: 
 
 The Baptists. 
 
 The Methodists. 
 
 The city keeps up three public schools, two white and one 
 colored. 
 
 There are several private schools in and in proximity to the 
 city, some of which have obtained a high standard. 
 
 BUILDING SUPPLIES. 
 
 Materials for construction are obtainable in Bessemer at most 
 reasonable rates. 
 
 The ground is of the character that enables the use of cellars. 
 The deposits are firm, insuring stable foundations; stone is had for 
 the quarrying. Building brick is sold at seven to eight dollars per 
 thousand; lime in quantities at sixty cents per barrel. 
 
 Choice yellow pine lumber is sold by the thousand feet, as fol- 
 lows: Rough and framing, $9 to $11 ; flooring, $12.50 to $17; weather 
 boarding, $10 to $12; finishing stuff, $14 to $16; shingles, cypress, 
 $2 to $3 per thousand. 
 
 Sash, doors, mouldings, scroll, stair work, etc., all done in Bes- 
 semer at proportionately low rates. 
 
 Metal cornice work and mouldings, iron roofing, pillars and 
 framing manufactured and constructed in Bessemer are furnished at 
 rates as low, if not lower, than anywhere in this country. 
 
 Elegant homes of modern architecture, with the usual modern 
 appointments and conveniences are erected at a cost of from two to 
 three thousand dollars. 
 
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 ■ ■ 
 
 
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 J 
 
 J 
 
Valtigs it] Bessgrqe^ 
 
 REAL ESTATE. 
 
 Values in Bessemer are more stable and less liable to fluctuation 
 than has heretofore been the case. The highest price asked and 
 paid for lots on the opening sale day, the 12th of April. 1887, was 
 seventy-five (75) dollars per front foot. The least price asked by the 
 Bessemer Land and Improvement Company on the opening sale day 
 and since is ten (10) dollars per front foot; this for residence prop- 
 erty. The highest price paid for an unimproved lot in Bessemer was 
 one hundred and fifteen (115) dollars per front foot, 
 
 The present valuation of unimproved city property is from ten 
 (10) to one hundred and fifty (150) dollars per front foot. Good 
 business lots can be purchased at from forty to one hundred 
 dollars, and residence lots at from ten to fifty dollars per front 
 foot. Residence lots in suburban places and additions to the city 
 plat can be purchased as low as three dollars per front foot. Larger 
 plats of land for residence purposes within a mile and a half to two 
 miles of the center of the city can be purchased in acre tracts for a 
 hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 Business lots, except key lots, have a frontage of twenty-five 
 feet, and a depth, except in the corners, of one hundred and forty 
 feet ; on corners and key lots, one hundred feet, and fronts of latter, 
 twenty feet. The Bessemer Land and Improvement Company resi- 
 dence lots are fifty feet front and one hundred and forty to one 
 hundred and ninety feet deep. Lots in additions to the city and 
 suburban plats vary in size. 
 
 Over two thousand lots have been sold in Bessemer, of which 
 over fifteen hundred have been sold by the Bessemer Land and Im- 
 provement Company. Over one-half of the lots within the fire limits 
 or business portion (an area of twenty blocks and six hundred and 
 twenty-two lots) have been sold. Purchases have been made princi- 
 pally by investors settling or intending to settle permanently in Bes- 
 semer, and not by speculators, simply purchasing for an advance. 
 
 Eligible residence lots can be obtained at this time within a 
 half a dozen blocks of the business portion of the city at ten dollars 
 per foot front, and business lots within the fire limits at fifty dollars 
 per foot front. 
 
 34 
 

 && 
 
 ^\T 
 
Improved property, both residence and business, can be obtained 
 at proportionate values, adding the cost of improvement to the 
 prices of lots as given. 
 
 RENTS. 
 
 Neat two room cottages, plastered, rent at six dollars monthly; 
 with rough kitchen attached at seven; three, four and five room 
 houses from nine to fifteen dollars; nice, commodious five, six, seven 
 and eight room houses from fifteen to thirty-five dollars. 
 
 Business houses and store rooms bring a rent from twenty to 
 seventy-five dollars per month. 
 
 MARKETS. 
 
 The city has established a regular market for the sale of meats, 
 fish, vegetables, etc., which is kept under strict regulation. 
 
 Meats, fresh, bring generally ten cents per pound ; the choicest 
 cuts of beef are sold at ten cents; fresh pork and sausage and choice 
 mutton and veal at ten cents. 
 
 Cured meats at nine cents and up ; chickens sell at $1.25 to $3 
 per dozen. Game is quite abundant — partridges, wild turkey, rab- 
 bits, squirrels and venison being in the market. 
 
 Eggs generally bring ten to fifteen cents per dozen, and butter 
 twenty-five to thirty-five cents per pound. 
 
 Fruits in season are very cheap, and the variety is very large 
 and the quality excellent. Blackberries grow large and luscious. 
 Peaches are in the greatest abundance and of the finest varieties 
 from local orchards. Strawberries and cherries are abundant and 
 cheap in season. Apples are always abundant. 
 
 Vegetables of every variety are raised in profusion, and though 
 cheap, bring constantly remunerative prices. 
 
 Milk is retailed at ten cents a quart for fresh sweet milk, and 
 ten cents a gallon for butter milk and sour milk. 
 
 Ice is delivered at fifty cents per hundred pounds. 
 
 Bread is delivered at twenty-eight pound loaves for one dollar. 
 
 Watermelons and cantaloupes of the best varieties retail in their 
 season from five to twenty-five cents each. The season lasts three 
 months and longer. 
 
 Good milch cows can be purchased from twenty-five to sixty 
 dollars each, the latter price for registered stock. The finer grades 
 of cattle thrive in this section. The native stock furnish excellent 
 milkers, yielding two and a half to four gallons of milk daily. 
 
 Good riding and driving horses can be bought at seventy-five to 
 one hundred and fifty dollars each ; a good, safe horse with top buggy 
 and harness can be bought for one hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 38 
 
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Furniture and house furnishing goods are sold at low rates and 
 on the installment plan. 
 
 In the line of mercantile supplies, Bessemer can compete with 
 any city of its size. There are in the city about seventy business 
 establishments at this time. 
 
 WAGES. 
 
 The wages of common labor vary from $[ to $1.50 per day. The 
 bulk of it is colored, and the prevailing rate is one dollar per day. 
 Carpenters receive $2 to $3.50 per day; painters $2 to $3 per day; 
 masons $3 to $4, and other mechanics in a similar ratio. Coke 
 makers and workers earn about $45 monthly ; chargers, off-bearers, 
 etc., earn according to skill required and shown ; skilled machinists 
 and workmen in the Rolling Mills from $3 to $8 per day. 
 
 Miners in the iron ore mines in the suburbs of Bessemer receive 
 from 30 to 45 cents per ton for mining, earning from $2.50 to $6 per 
 day and paying their helpers $1.25. 
 
 In the coal mines, miners receive 42^ cents per ton, and earn 
 from $2 to $4 per day. 
 
 Within an area of three miles centering at Bessemer, fully 2,500 
 workmen, miners and mechanics, and skilled artisans are employed, 
 and over $100,000 is paid out monthly in wages. 
 
 ASSESSMENT AND TAXATION. 
 
 Assessments are generally made on about a one-half or less 
 actual valuation. 
 
 The State and municipal tax is limited by the Constitution to 
 each not to exceed one-half of one per cent. 
 
 The county tax, including road tax, is but thirty-five cents on 
 the hundred dollars. 
 
 CONSIDERATIONS TO THE IMMIGRANT. 
 
 Intelligent and self-respecting new home seeker outside of mere 
 business or monetary considerations gives a serious thought to the 
 conditions which will environ himself and his dependents in the new 
 field he may seek. He recognizes that there is something in life 
 beyond the fact of money making and money getting. If with this 
 facility is combined agreeable, healthy and happy conditions of live. 
 lihood, the very acme of successful and contented life is secured. 
 
 The city of Bessemer is located in the foothills of the Appala- 
 chian range of mountains, in the descent to the plains which border 
 the Gulf of Mexico, and over which the fresh, invigorating breezes of 
 the ocean courses unrestricted. Its elevation is high, far above the 
 miasmatic and malarial belt, which exempts it from the febrile dis- 
 
 88 
 

 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 , 
 
eases occasionally so prevalent in some sections of the South. It 
 lies in the very medial line of the temperate zone, where the long 
 summer has no distressing heat nor the brief winter any cruel cold to 
 embarrass or embargo labor or to produce noticeable inconveniences 
 or untoward sacrifice. 
 
 The air is always fresh and invigorating, bearing the health 
 inspiring incense of the pine and cedar. Life here possesses every 
 charm that nature is prone to bestow. The most picturesque envi- 
 ronments greet the eye ; clear, cold, crystal streams of water reticu- 
 late the landscape ; sylvan shades refresh and inspire the traveler. 
 
 There is not exaggeration in this description. These conditions 
 impress the mere casual visitor to this section. And with these 
 incomparable advantages are coupled the opportunities for sure and 
 liberal returns from industrious effort and safe and lucrative invest- 
 ment for capital. 
 
 The most superficial investigation upon the part of the intending 
 immigrant cannot fail to impress him with the attractions and ad- 
 vantages of this section, and with the desirability of establishing here 
 his home. 
 
 40 
 
T\]Q N\Qtan}orp\]Qsis of a Decade. 
 
 The remarkable development of mineral Alabama has been 
 barely the work of the past decade. This is specially so of Jones 
 Valley. Yet after the war this section was in as deplorable a condition 
 as any other part of the South. There seemed no remedy for the 
 devastating effects of the war, which had divested it of its wealth 
 and comforts. Even hope had almost departed. Hut genius and 
 progress ventured into this field, and the dormant agencies which 
 had slumbered for countless ages in the neighboring hills, and reposed 
 in unvexed quietude in the bowels of the earth, awoke into energetic 
 life, and the mists of gloom and want and idleness faded away, and 
 the sunshine of prosperity and cheerful activity brightened the beau- 
 tiful valley, and to-day from one end to the other, from border to 
 border, Jones Valley is almost one scene of ceaseless industries. Its 
 population and wealth has increased ten-fold. The ancient furrows, 
 relics of another day, when agriculture was the only avenue to main- 
 tenance and ease and comfort, still mark the spot in man} - places, and 
 are co-incident with the track of railways, the walls of furnaces, the 
 lines of populous streets and avenues and other indices of a mightier 
 ami more affluent development. The thin wreaths of smoke from 
 antique farm houses of the olden time is mingled with the dusky 
 volumes from factory chimney and furnace stack, and the evening's 
 pastoral quiet and peace is menaced by the fierce rush of the blast, 
 and the mounting of huge flames of fire athwart the skies. The 
 sweet breath of pine clad hills is tainted and darkened with the black- 
 smoke of rushing locomotives, and from one end to the other of the 
 valley the echoes are awakened by the numerous voices of a tireless 
 activity. Here men are busy laying new tracks of railway — there 
 arise the walls of furnaces, rolling mills, factories, shops and resi- 
 dences. The aboriginal forests of one day gives places on the morrow 
 to streets, avenues and railway depots, and familiar scenes are often 
 found by a few days' absence radically changed and improved. No 
 place in all the valley is a better exponent of the spirit of industry 
 and progress which pervades this section, nor a more striking and 
 conclusive exemplification of the wealth of natural resources than 
 Bessemer. 
 
 Yet the progress made is but an incident of its capability. 
 Where one man gleans to-day a hundred may glean to-morrow. The 
 
 42 
 

 
 L 
 
 HFi 
 
 
work immediately at hand centuries cannot exhaust, and its products 
 form the superstructure which civilization is building. 
 
 TO-DAY. 
 
 Though but three years have elapsed since the founding of Bes- 
 semer, and the larger portion of that period has been subject to a 
 general industrial depression, and to the vicissitudes and unsettled 
 values consequent upon an exciting national political campaign, yet 
 the progress of the city has been marvelous. Beginning with but 
 the name, the concentration of a population approximating five 
 thousand in number, the erection of one thousand buildings or struc- 
 tures, some of them as elaborate and ornate as are found in cities of 
 ten times the population, the investment of capital counted by 
 millions in the brief period of time mentioned, is an incident in pro- 
 gress and history that is not paralleled. 
 
 The development in progress to-day is a fit complement of the 
 history already made. As confirming the stability of Bessemer, the 
 breadth and strength of its foundation, and its forcible attraction to 
 business and capital, the improvements now in progress, and the 
 sales of real estate lately effected, aptly illustrate. 
 
 The new city hall lan illustration of which appears on another 
 page) has just been completed and occupied. It is a large, imposing 
 structure of composite architecture, containing the city offices and 
 court room, fire department and jail, and market houses attached. It 
 cost some $20,000. Thirty thousand fifty year six per cent, bonds 
 of the city were readily placed at 103. 15 to raise funds for city hall 
 and for street improvement. 
 
 Several brick blocks are now under construction. Some of them 
 are elegant structures, with pressed brick, terra cotta and iron fronts. 
 A large opera house or theater block has just been contracted for. 
 
 An enormous 
 
 CAR WORKS PLANT COMPANY, 
 
 with a capital of $1,000,000, with several leading capitalists of the 
 East as stockholders, is being organized, to locate in Bessemer. The 
 Bessemer Land and Improvement Company has complied with all 
 the conditions precedent to its establishment. The plant will be 
 the largest in the South, covering many acres of land and requiring 
 many extra miles of railway track. It will give employment to 2,000 
 skilled mechanics. 
 
 The Blocton, Briarfield and Birmingham Railroad, a continuation 
 of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia system, and which will 
 give this city a short and direct line to Mobile, is being rapidly con- 
 structed. 
 
 44 
 
~-.\-l 
 
CONSTRUCTION IN BESSEMER. 
 
 The character of construction in Bessemer is a monument to the 
 faith of its founders and citizens. It is fairly represented by the 
 illustrations herewith given. 
 
 The Charleston business block, having a frontage of three hun- 
 dred feet, three and four stories in height, is a magnificent structure 
 of pressed brick and marble and metal cornice work, cost $150,000, 
 and would be an ornament to a city of a hundred thousand popu- 
 lation. 
 
 The Grand Hotel, three stories, of pressed brick, terra cotta and 
 cut stone, one hundred feet frontage on two streets, is an elegantly 
 finished building, and cost over $75,000. 
 
 The beautiful and picturesque Montezuma cost $75,000, and is 
 one of the most attractive specimens of architecture in the South. 
 It has a frontage of 194 feet, and a depth of 200. It is in a park of 
 ten acres. 
 
 The First National Bank of Bessemer block, architecturally, is 
 of the most artistic and elaborate design. It is elegantly fitted and 
 furnished, and has a large thoroughly fire and burglar proof vault 
 with time locks. 
 
 The new office building of the Bessemer Land and Improvement 
 Company is a superb representation of the best styles of modern 
 architecture — chaste in design and complete in adaptation. It is 
 two stories, of fine pressed brick, stone and stucco work. Within it is 
 exquisitely finished in native wood, with elaborate and elegant 
 furnishings. 
 
 There are in the city various other costly business blocks, as 
 well as some very handsome and expensive residences. 
 
 46 
 
Tii^ iv'jiiwviv Systenj ^< Bessemer 
 
 In .m ai 
 
 'Ilii 
 
 The Louisville and Nashvilli Mineral Line. 
 
 Tli. nd Huntsv illc Railroad 
 
 'I'll id. 
 
 'I hi K ty, Mem] 
 
 The r and I a Railroad, 
 
 •it 1 1- 1 and I i in Railv 
 
 All "f these lim and 
 
 Huntsville i on the i 
 
 upMurphre< y, with its ultim nal point at Huntsvi 
 
 The Bessemer and Tuscaloosa is completed to a point i 
 Addison, lacking only about fifteen miles 
 
 iding for its extension is being prosecuted. From function a 
 branch runs to W cting there with the Alabama 
 
 i Southern and the Blocton Coal Mines Railway. 
 
 I hi Mobile and Bessemer, part of the East Ten ;inia 
 
 and ■ i. is now being rapidly graded from Briarfield, 
 
 with [ir.iini ompletion by the Company by mid-summer. It 
 
 will complete a trunk line to Mob 
 
 The Birmingham, Powderly and Bessemer Street Railway is 
 graded to Bessemer, and is running to within three miles of the city. 
 The Company expects to complete the line within a month. 
 
 Both of these latter roads center within the area mentioned. 
 
'\ \ \ \ \ 
 
 ' 
 
 V 
 
 . \ \ 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 mlMI 
 
 616 2 
 
 - 014 497 
 
 \ \ \ N X . -.. 
 
 FiVe AjirfdtQs /\bodt Bessgrrier, 
 
 Alabama's foundations for wealth are in her four leading pro- 
 ducts — iron, coal, timber, cotton. 
 
 In 1880 Alabama's pig iron output was 77,190. In 1890 Besse- 
 mer furnaces alone will put out 250,000 tons! ! Worth $4,000,000!!! 
 
 The magnitude of the wealth of the South in coal is beyond 
 computation. The entire coal area of Great Britain covers 11,900 
 square miles ; Alabama 10,680 square miles. The Warrior (Ala.) 
 Coal field alone contain 7,800 square miles. Prof. McCalley's geolog- 
 ical report says: ''The coal measures contain fifty-three seams of 
 coal some 14 feet thick, having a combined thickness of 125 feet of 
 pure coal." Bessemer is in the midst of this vast coal business, 
 and factories located here buy coal at &I.25 per ton, delivered! 
 
 Iron and coal have made Pennsylvania enormously rich ; Ala- 
 bama will, in 1890, be the Pennsylvania of the whole Union. 
 
 The Northwest has found in its timber a source of untold wealth. 
 The primeval forests of Alabama, developed, would alone make the 
 State wealthy. 
 
 Alabama has 53 per cent, of her lands in forests — yellow pine, 
 yellow poplar, all the oaks, ash, hickory, gum, chestnut, maple, wal- 
 nut, cedar, cherry, beech, bosswood, pecan, persimmon, dogwood, 
 and buckeye are abundant. Bessemer a good place for wood-work- 
 ing industries. 
 
 The cotton crop of 1866-67 was 2,097,254 bales ; in 1889-90 over 
 7,000,000 bales. The South is rising up ! Alabama is a leading State, 
 producing cotton wealth, and can supply cotton mills with coal at 
 $1.25 a ton at Bessemer. 
 
 The mean temperature in Alabama is only 64 in spring, 8o° in 
 summer, 64 in autumn, and 54 in winter. Extreme colds are, of 
 course, unknown. Summer nights cool. 
 
 Alabama's assessed values have doubled between 1880 and 1890. 
 The State indebtedness, per capita, has been reduced from §8.15 in 
 1880 to $4.63 in 1889; the rate of taxation decreased from an aver- 
 age of 1H3 in 1876 to 4% mills in 1889. Money grows fast in 
 Alabama, and very fast at Bessemer. 
 
 The annual death rate in the United States per 1,000 is 15.09; in 
 Indian. 1 15.78; in Missouri 16.89; m New York 17.38; in District of 
 Columbia 23.60 ; in Alabama 1+20. Exceptionally health}- in Bes- 
 semer— only 9 per 1,000 last year. 
 
 Jefferson county, in which Bessemer is, had 24,000 population in 
 1880; the present census will aggregate 120,000. 
 
 Alabama's climate is mild and genial; free from extremes of 
 heat and cold; it is heathful. To people in ice-latitudes, who freeze 
 six months every year, and are half the remaining year thawing out, 
 Alabama should be as inviting to them as was the "promised land" 
 to the Israelites emerging from the wilderness. Come to Bessemer!