Sloss Furnace

From 1882 to 1972, Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama transformed coal and ore into hard steel. From skyscrapers in New York to automobiles made in Detroit, Sloss Furnaces were relied on for providing materials to produce thousands of products.

In the early 1900s, James "Slag" Wormwood was the foreman of the graveyard shift where 150 workers toiled to keep the furnace fed. Only the poorest and most desperate men would take on the harsh conditions of working the graveyard shift during the summers. Wormwood would make the workers take dangerous risks in order to impress his supervisors. Forty-seven men lost their lives during his reign not counting the numerous accidents that left men unable to work. They weren't allowed breaks or holidays.

In 1906, James "Slag" Wormwood lost his footing at the top of Big Alice (the highest blast furnace) and fell into a pool of melted iron ore. He was killed instantly. It was reported that he became dizzy from the methane gas produced by the furnace and lost his balance. During his reign, he never once set foot on top of the furnace until that day. Many believed the workers pushed him into the furnace after growing tired of his slave driving, but no worker was convicted of it. Soon after, the graveyard shift was discontinued.

The legend of "Slag" grew each year with workers complaining that they frequently saw an "unnatural presence" in the work site. In 1926, a watchman was injured after being "pushed from behind" and told to "get back to work" by an unknown being. In 1947, three supervisors were found knocked out in a small boiler room unsure of what happened to them. They ALL claimed to have been approached by a man who was badly burned and told them to "get back to work." In 1971, Samual Blumenthal, a night watchman, said he came face-to-face with a half man/half demon who tried to push him up the stairs. Upon refusing, the monster began beating on him with their fists. After being examined, it was reported that Blumenthal had several intense burns. He died before returning to Sloss.

Hundreds of reports of paranormal activity have been recorded by the Birmingham Police. Some minor while others more of the physical nature. Majority of the reports took place at night during the months of September and October. Some think the paranormal occurrences are nothing but Halloween hoaxes. What do you think? Could James "Slag" Wormwood still be working the graveyard shift after all this time?



Source: Fright Furnace

Comments

Anonymous said…
sounds like James "Slag" Wormwood just what he deserved: "live by the fire - die by the fire" R.I.P.
Anonymous said…
This is onee of those horrific events that people are glad happened. I would have pushed him too. He jumped from one fire to another I'm sure if you catch my drift.
Sierra said…
Plan on going to sloss furnace this weekend! Im really hoping ill get to experiance something!
Anonymous said…
I've watched Ghost Adventures last night and it was the episode of the Sloss furance they told them about the history of Slag and others.Pretty cool :) That's why i searched on google for this lol
Unknown said…
Me and my brother went to sloss furance once or twice it was awsome but that stuff is true if you go have fun
HaleyxErin said…
Getting ready to leave going to a Sloss ghost hunt so excited!!! I hope to see something but nothing too scary.
Anonymous said…
going there tommorow wish me luck
Anonymous said…
going there tommorow.wish me luck :)
Anonymous said…
Creepy!
Unknown said…
That was a brilliant share about furnaces. Thanks for the useful article, appreciate your work.
Unknown said…
Possible Picture of Ghosts at Sloss Furnace at GhostsOfAlabama.AppHb.com
Anonymous said…
Rip James wormwood. Aka "SLAG"
May God have mercy upon your soul.
From Rhys weety12342@gmail. Com
UK south wales.
Awesome blog and great info you shared here..

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Nikki said…
This is one of the things that makes me glad but also freaked out that I live in Alabama.
Unknown said…
I just read this to my mom,we r supposed to be leaving at 12 and she dont want to go now... i told her stop being a wimp.wish me luck!!
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
good information give me thank you
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Unknown said…
Such an amazing and great article. Thanks for the share.

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Unknown said…
nice post to read and to now detail about it
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This post is very nice and helpful for me.





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Richard Clark said…
awesome blog and really great info.
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