![]() Furnace of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company, Ensley, Alabama, 1906. | |
Company type | Public company |
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Industry | Steel milling Coal and Iron Mining |
Founded | 1852 |
Defunct | 1952 |
Fate | Became division of United States Steel Corporation |
Successor | Tennessee Coal & Iron Division: United States Steel Corporation |
Headquarters | Birmingham, Alabama |
Key people | George Gordon Crawford |
Products |
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Parent | United States Steel Corporation (from 1907) |
The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (1852–1952), also known as TCI and the Tennessee Company, was a major American steel manufacturer with interests in coal and iron ore mining and railroad operations. Originally based entirely within Tennessee, it relocated most of its business to Alabama in the late nineteenth century, following protests over its use of free convict labor. With a sizable real estate portfolio, the company owned several Birmingham satellite towns, including Ensley, Fairfield, Docena, Edgewater and Bayview. It also established a coal mining camp it sold to U.S. Steel which developed it into the Westfield, Alabama planned community.[1]
At one time the second largest steel producer in the United States, TCI was listed on the first Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896. However, in 1907, the company was merged with its principal rival, the United States Steel Corporation. The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company was subsequently operated as a subsidiary of U. S. Steel for 45 years until it became a division of its parent company in 1952.