Shelby Iron Works

Shelby Iron Works was built by Horace Ware in the 1840s and by the 1860s was one of Alabama's most thriving industrial complexes. Shelby Iron Works shipped iron plating by rail to Selma to help outfit the Confederate Navy during the Civil War. The iron works ceased production in 1923 and its ruins can be seen just south of Columbiana, Shelby County, on Highway 42.

Courtesy of the Birmingham Public Library Archives