"A Metallic Taste - Birmingham, Alabama" Top 5 Page for this destination Birmingham by calcaf38

Birmingham Travel Guide: 123 reviews and 353 photos

Birmingham is a young city, born after the Civil War in a perfect spot if you needed iron ore, coal, and water in copious supply. A tradition of metalworks existed in the region already, as you will see in one of my tips.

Having no experience of slavery didn't mean that Birmingham wasn't racially divided. Au contraire, the prosperous city was a bastion of racial laws, some written and some mere examples of the worst tradition.

I visited Birmingham to research the Civil Right struggle, and to find out more about the infancy, maturity, and dotage of the American iron and steel industry.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Good museum resources. The sound of train whistles at all hours.
Cons:Not an attractive city in the traditional sense
In a nutshell:A crucible, literally and figuratively

Last visit to Birmingham: Jul 2010
Intro Updated Aug 5, 2010
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Reviews (6)

Iron & Steel Museum of Alabama - Birmingham

Iron & Steel Museum of Alabama Things to Do (6)

This is an attractive, well designed museum on the Tannehill grounds. If you are interested in heavy industry and large... more travel advice

Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park - Birmingham

Tannehill Ironworks Historical State... Things to Do (6)

Near a busy campground, you can visit the granddaddy of Sloss Furnaces, the Tannehill Ironworks. Iron was produced here... more travel advice

Sloss Furnaces Things to Do (6)

The Sloss Furnaces is a large iron foundry complex which operated from 1882 to 1971. Saved from demolition by... more travel advice

Ruffner Mountain Nature Center - Birmingham

Ruffner Mountain Nature Center Things to Do (6)

The Ruffner Mountain Nature Center is a large nature reserve with superb trails, situated just a few minutes from... more travel advice

Comments (3)

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toonsarah May 10, 2011 at 11:01 AM

I know the UK Birmingham well so was interested to visit this one with you. In fact, a photo of *this* Birmingham was recently used in error on a council leaflet for the UK city!!
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Bwana_Brown Sep 23, 2010 at 11:25 AM

Birmingham certainly has a history, some of which is not very savoury. This page is a nice introduction to it's tainted past. Loved your Tannehill Ironworks photos and beautiful Ruffner Mountain looks like a great place to just get away from it all!
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Nemorino Aug 7, 2010 at 4:01 PM

I'm glad to hear the exhibit at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute was done so well. Good that the Sloss Furnaces and the Tannehill Ironworks have been preserved. I used to take groups to Ironbridge, near the other Birmingham (England) every summer.