Into Another Time

Serendipity. I'm looking for some of that on this trip. Found some yesterday. Traveling west of Birmingham, Alabama, I saw a sign for Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park. For some reason, it called out to me. But as I approached the exit I decided against it at the last second. I immediately felt some regret. But at the very next exit there was another sign for the park. This time I took the bait.


Once I arrived in the park, I backed GoJoe in under some trees right next to a stream. It's the first time I've had a water view from any home I've ever had.

The park was created around the ruins of the Tannehill Ironworks, a foundry that supplied iron for bullets and other equipment for Alabama troops during the Civil War. The blast furnaces and other structures are enormous. As I walked around the ruins of the foundry on Thursday afternoon, I was the only person there. It was eerily quiet, but it was easy to imagine the industry that took place there in the mid-1800s. I could almost hear the clanking of the machinery and the voices of the foundry workers. Looking up at one of the tall furnace towers, I wondered how the large stones were lifted into place. The towers are at least fifty feet tall. I later read that they were built by slave labor. (I still don't know HOW it was done.)

So this foundry, which provided iron for the Confederate war machine, was built by slaves. That adds a whole extra layer of meaning to the word "irony."

It was also here at Tannehill that I had my first in-depth conversation with a fellow camper, one of the joys of doing this RV thing. Like me, Charles is a "newbie" and we shared experiences, as well as dissected the economy, parenting, life, and any number of other subjects. A good time well spent in a great setting. See you on the road, Charles!