Whether you’re a believer in the paranormal or just love a good story, Alabama is filled with spooky legends. These sites combine history, mystery and a touch of
the supernatural. Perfect for anyone curious about the state’s haunted side!
I'm APR’s Digital Content Reporter and Producer Aydan Conchin. Each Friday this October, I'm exploring some of the most chilling tales from across the state. Join me for a look at the haunted hideaways across Alabama — if you dare!
Let’s dive into some Yellowhammer Haunted History with Birmingham's very own spooky site — Sloss Furnaces.
Research from the Encyclopedia of Alabama (EOA) shows that Sloss (as locals call it), a Birmingham-based iron manufacturing complex, was founded by Colonel James Withers Sloss in 1881. The outlet reports the furnace and its owners played a crucial role in Birmingham’s economic rise, drawing thousands of workers from across the rural South and beyond in search of jobs.
As noted by the official Sloss Furnaces website, the company grew to become the world’s largest producer of pig iron, a crude, high-carbon form of iron produced in a blast furnace from iron ore. The term comes from the practice of casting it into molds called "pigs" that were attached to a "sow" or main channel, explains the EOA.
However, the success of Sloss came with a darker side — a history marked by racial inequality, union suppression and hazardous working conditions.
In 1981, the site was designated a National Historic Landmark, one of the few industrial sites in the U.S. that allows visitors to experience the realities of Birmingham’s industrial past. Today, according to its official website, Sloss serves as both an educational museum and a thriving hub for local metal artists.
So... How is Sloss Haunted?
Although at least 47 workers were confirmed to have died at the ironworks site, one particular phantom is at the center of the plot in what some might call a dual haunting.
The tragic tale starts years before Sloss, with the founding of Alice Furnaces, built in west Birmingham near the present-day Golden Flake Factory site, where Sloss was built on the east side of the Magic City.
One of the most unsettling legends tied to both furnaces revolves around a man named Theophilus Calvin Jowers.
According to folklorist Dr. Alan Brown, in the late 1800s, Jowers was helping replace an old iron bell near one of the furnaces, when disaster struck. While attempting to lower the heavy bell into the molten iron to be melted down, he lost his balance near the boilers. The rope slipped from his grasp, sending the bell and Jowers into the searing furnace below. He was gone in an instant.
In the years that followed, strange things began happening near that same part of the site, or so says local folklore. Brown explains that workers often reported an eerie chill while at the Alice Furnace, the very spot tied to Jowers’ death.
Some said they felt an invisible presence watching them. Others claimed to glimpse a shadowy figure pacing the catwalks as if he's still overseeing the work.
This is where things get interesting. After Alice Furnaces were dismantled, local folklore says Jowers’ spirit went on to haunt nearby Sloss Furnaces. To this day, his ghost is still seen at the site.
So, is Sloss haunted by restless workers of the past or just echoes of a city built on fire and iron? Maybe it's the ghost of Theophilus, or maybe it’s just the furnace creaking with memories. Either way, local location isn’t just a relic — it’s a legend still glowing with mystery.
That's a wrap for today's Yellowhammer Haunted Histories! Stay tuned every Friday this October, and I'll tell you more about the ghost stories and spooky sites across Alabama 👻✨
