The natural resource iron drew investors to Alabama around 1880 to 1890 and the manufacture of iron-made products came to dominate the industry in Alabama.
Explanation:
The phrase "New South" refers to the economic transition from an agricultural to an industrial civilization.
Prior to the Civil War, the majority of free people in Alabama earned a living by cultivating cotton. Despite the fact that there was no industry, Alabama had huge, untapped resources of coal, iron ore, and limestone. Jefferson County is the only area in North America where all three critical components for steel manufacturing are so close together. These natural resources lured investors to Alabama, and the fabrication of iron goods grew to dominate industry in Alabama from 1880 to 1890. Alabama was the second-largest producer of iron ore in the United States by 1889. Unlike antebellum farmers throughout the South, who farmed cotton and exported the raw material up north or to Europe for processing, Alabama industrialists produced iron ore within the state. The Pratt Coal and Coke Company built Alabama's first blast furnace, which commenced operations in 1880. Alabama had 53 furnaces operating by 1891. Cotton manufacture flourished throughout the New South era as well. The number of cotton mills in the state grew, and the number of persons worked at these mills grew from 1,300 in 1860 to 9,000 by 1900. Cottonseeds, which were formerly considered trash, have now become a valuable raw commodity. By 1900, more than a dozen Alabama mills were producing cottonseed oil, soap, fertilizer, and animal food. Aside from steel and cotton production, grist mills, wheat mills, and wool mills continued to function and many grew. During the New South era, Alabama had fast and widespread expansion in industry. Between 1880 and 1900, the number of active factories in the state increased from 2,000 to more than 5,500, with the number of manufacturing employees growing from around 10,000 to more than 33,000. Birmingham grew to be the state's commercial hub, with over 200 industrial units including cotton gins, brickyards, bottling works, broom factories, gristmills, furniture manufacturers, a jug factory, an overalls factory, and a cottonseed-oil mill. Daniel Pratt, Henry F. DeBardeleben, James Sloss, Enoch Ensley, and Braxton Bragg Comer were among the notable manufacturing and mining proprietors. The Experimental Coke and Iron Company was formed by Pratt, Alabama's foremost antebellum manufacturer, and his son-in-law DeBardeleben. DeBardeleben formed a partnership with James Sloss to form the Sloss Furnace Company. Ensley formed the Pratt Coal and Iron Company in 1884 by combining the Alice Furnace Company and the Linn Iron Works, as well as the Ensley Land Company, which became a major land holder in Birmingham. Comer established one of the state's largest grist mills in Barbour County before going to Birmingham and establishing lucrative textile operations at Avondale Mills.
