Alice Furnace
Alice Furnace was the first furnace in the District to successfully make "basic" iron for a prolonged period (Armes, p.435). According to Woodward (1940), this was significant because it convinced northern capital that iron making with locally produced coke was practical.
This addressed the issue of the chemical content of Birmingham iron -- it could be used to make steel. In turn, this meant that there was a market for Birmingham iron in the existing steel centers of the nation. Finally, since at this time no significant amount of steel had been made in Birmingham, it meant that Birmingham could enter the steel market with local resources -- the best co-location of resources known in the world.
The Alice Furnace Company was eventually acquired by TCI, and subsequently became part of U.S. Steel in Birmingham. The furnace complex was dismantled in 1929.