Sloss Furnaces, Alabama

The Sloss Furnaces are a former pig iron plant near downtown Birmingham that used to supply iron for the pipe industry of Alabama, from the plant's beginning in 1882, until the plant's closure in 1971. In 1983 it was declared a National Historic Landmark, and opened to the public. The impressive remains of two large blast furnaces, as well as the tunnels, corridors, chambers and galleries around them, are open to exploration. One of the furnace areas is still used for creative iron casting projects. Concerts and other public events are held at Sloss as well, and the annual Halloween "haunted factory" experience is superlative. Sloss is one of the few remnants America's formidable iron and steel industries that is truly open to the public.