The city of Birmingham was founded in 1871 by a group of cotton gin promoters who sold several lots that bear the yet to be created crossing of South and North Alabama railroads and the Alabama and Chattanooga railroads. The area was known as the Jones Valley and was flanked by mountain ridges of the Appalachian foothills. The area also had numerous rivers, lakes and bodies of water in the region. The area where the crossings were situated showed that the area had huge deposits of iron ore, limestone and coal, the three important raw materials used in making steel.
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