On Thursday, May 27, 1976, the State Fair Authority opened the Sloss Furnaces site for an informal public tour. Approximately 100 people attended, eager to walk through the massive ironmaking complex that had powered Birmingham’s growth for nearly a century. At the end of the tour, officials announced that Sloss would soon be torn down and sold for scrap.
In that moment of shock and disappointment, Randal Oaks stepped forward. Borrowing a bullhorn, Oaks urged anyone interested in exploring alternatives to demolition to gather at his Morris Avenue restaurant, Oaks Street, the following Saturday. His impromptu call to action ignited a rapid surge of local interest and set in motion the movement to save Sloss.
Two days later, on Saturday, May 29, 1976, sixteen passionate individuals met at Oaks Street Restaurant. Their gathering marked a pivotal moment: the official formation of the Sloss Furnaces Association, a group determined to preserve the storied legacy and industrial history of Sloss Furnaces and ensure its future as a museum and educational landmark.
Sloss Furnaces, an iconic blast furnace site that operated from 1882 to 1971, had helped define Birmingham as the “Pittsburgh of the South.” With demolition looming, the founding group recognized not only the cultural and architectural importance of the site but also its immense potential to be preserved as a museum dedicated to telling Birmingham’s iron and steel story…