Tour-Ed Coal Mine

Historic Pratt Coal Mines

The Pratt Coal Mines date back to the 1870's when the area around what is now known as Pratt City (Named After Daniel Pratt) was first discovered to have a rich coal seam by Truman Aldrich. Shortly after William 'Billly' Gould sunk the first shaft to reach the coal seam in 1878. Working in partnership with businessman Henry Debardeleben they formed the Pratt Coal & Coke Company. The mines and company were named after Debardeleben's father in law (Principal Financier) Daniel Pratt. A railroad was shortly afterword constructed to reach the blast furnaces in nearby Birmingham. More coal mines were constructed during the following years consisting of slope and shaft mines. As demand for coal grew in the 1880's convicts
were leased from the state to fill a growing shortage of skilled labor. Prisons were constructed
on site at many of the mines. Living conditions at these prisons were in most cases horrendous with many deaths occurring in the mines on an almost daily basis. In 1886 the Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Company purchased the Pratt Coal & Coke Company and continued to expand mining operations and opening new coal mines along the Pratt and Mary Lee Coal Seams. TCI made attempts to create better living conditions and safety for both the convicts and 'free' miners and their families as well. By 1907 United States Steel had now purchased TCI as an independent division and started creating model mining communities and creating new safety standards and more efficient mining operations. By 1914 TCI did away with convict leasing at all mines they owned. The Pratt Coal Mine Division of TCI during its many years of operations had coal mines that stretched all around Pratt City to Ensley, Wylam
and up to and south of Five Mile Creek. As many as 18 mines at one point were in operation. The Birmingham Southern Railroad (Division Of TCI & U.S Steel) had rail lines to every Pratt Coal Mine and handled transportation of coal & coke to the nearby Ensley Blast furnaces.
By the early to late 1950's virtually all of these mines were shut down, mines sealed off and
remaining structures torn down. There were some structures still standing around the Pratt City area but the tornado outbreak in April 2011 destroyed the rest. These mines were a main source for Birmingham's growth in those early years to become an industrial city.