Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 10/07/2026 04:38:00

Sloss Furnaces is a National Historic Landmark and industrial museum at 20 32nd Street North in Birmingham, Alabama. The site operated as a pig iron-producing blast furnace from 1882, just eleven years after Birmingham's founding, until 1971, making it one of the longest-operating blast furnaces in the country. After citizens campaigned to save it from demolition, Birmingham voters approved a 3.3-million-dollar bond issue in 1977 to preserve the site, and it became a National Historic Landmark in 1981 -- the first twentieth-century blast furnace preserved as a museum in the United States. The fifteen-acre site opened to the public on Labour Day weekend 1983 and now serves as a cultural centre for learning, art, and entertainment. Admission is free for self-guided tours through the massive furnace structures, with guided and historic night tours available for a fee. Sloss hosts a metal arts programme with classes and visiting artist residencies, and its industrial landscape provides a dramatic backdrop for concerts, festivals, and private events including weddings and corporate functions. Annual events include Furnace Fest, a major multi-day rock and alternative music festival; Dia de los Muertos; Magic City Art Connection; Taco Fest; Festa Italiana; and the Sloss City EDM Music Festival. A new 16,000-square-foot Visitors' and Education Centre opened in 2016. The site's central location, adjacent to downtown Birmingham, Woodlawn, and Southside, makes it accessible from every corner of the city.