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Coalburg, Alabama

Coordinates: 33°35′37″N 86°51′26″W / 33.59361°N 86.85722°W / 33.59361; -86.85722
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Coalburg, Alabama
Coalburg is located in Alabama
Coalburg
Coalburg
Coordinates: 33°35′37″N 86°51′26″W / 33.59361°N 86.85722°W / 33.59361; -86.85722
CountryUnited States
StateAlabama
CountyJefferson
Elevation
469 ft (143 m)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Area code(s)205, 659
GNIS feature ID116311[1]

Coalburg is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States.

History

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Coalburg was home to coal mines first developed by John T. Milner, who sold them in May 1883 to the Georgia Pacific Railway.[2] Edward Magruder Tutwiler became the superintendent of the mines. Sloss-Sheffield Iron and Steel Company operated coke ovens at Coalburg during this time.[3] At its peak, the Coalburg mines produced four thousand tons of coal per day.[4] Overall, the Coalburg mines produced over 186,000 tons of coal. Sloss used convict labor to work in the Coalburg mines, with 320 men working in 1889. As the mines grew, the number of convicts used to work in the mines increased. The coal mined at and coke produced in Coalburg was sent to Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham to be turned into pig iron.[5]

In 1890, eleven miners were killed in a mine explosion.[6]

A post office was operated in Coalburg from 1883 until the 1980s.[7]

Demographics

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Historical population
CensusPop.Note
1890842
U.S. Decennial Census[8]

Coalburg was listed on the 1890 U.S. Census with a population of 842.[9]

Notable people

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References

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  1. ^ "Coalburg". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Causey, Donna R (December 16, 2013). "Biography: John Turner Milner born 1826 with photograph". Alabama Pioneers. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  3. ^ Burchard, Ernest Francis; Butts, Charles; Eckel, Edwin Clarence (1910). Iron ores, fuels, and fluxes of the Birmingham district, Alabama – Ernest Francis Burchard, Charles Butts, and Edwin Clarence Eckel – Google Books. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  4. ^ Armes, Ethel (2011). The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama. University of Alabama Press. p. 438. ISBN 9780817356828.
  5. ^ Lichtenstein, Alex (1996). Twice the Work of Free Labor: The Political Economy of Convict Labor in the .. – Alex Lichtenstein – Google Books. ISBN 9781859840863. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  6. ^ Flynt, Wayne (February 5, 2016). Poor But Proud. 2843: University of Alabama Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  7. ^ "Jefferson County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  8. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". Census.gov. Archived from the original on May 7, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  9. ^ "Statistics of Population - Minor Civil Divisions 1880 and 1890 - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1890. pp. 52–59.