This post features photographs from the Woodward Family Collection and displays plant operations and different industrial scenes from the 19th century.

The Woodward Iron Company was founded by two brothers, Joseph and William Woodward on December 31, 1881. William served as president and Joseph served as secretary-treasurer. The company was based out of Bessemer, Alabama and maintained various furnaces, mines, quarries and private railroad lines.

In 1968, Woodward Iron Company was purchased by the Mead Corporation. After the acquisition, the steel industry began to decline and by 1975, all site operations closed down. Today, little remains of the once thriving company but the history of what was still exists.

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