Slightly Odd Road Trips: The Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham, AL

-

People are leaving Sloss Furnaces with ringing in their ears, and it’s not from the tour guide’s microphone.

Think Alabama’s road trip stops are just beaches and BBQ? Think again. Sloss Furnaces at 20 32nd St N is ranked as one of the most haunted places in America and a top abandoned place you can actually visit. Dozens of workers died here, and some never clocked out.

Ghost #1: "Slag" Wormwood, The Foreman Who Still Pushes

In the early 1900s, foreman James "Slag" Wormwood ran Graveyard Shift. He forced men into deadly conditions. True crime locations don’t get more real: 47 workers died under him. In 1906, he fell into molten iron, or was he pushed?
Today, visitors report a sudden shove near the furnace, along with paranormal activity caught on multiple real investigations. Others hear a man barking orders. Paranormal investigators from Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters recorded a voice growling, “Get back to work.”

Ghost #2: The Man in the Boilermaker Suit

A shadow figure in full 1920s work gear watches from the blowers, then walks straight into the brick and vanishes. Overnight guards say he’s the most common apparition at this urban exploring Alabama landmark.
But it’s not just ghosts. It’s American history.
Operating 1882-1971, Sloss made pig iron for skyscrapers and WWII tanks. It’s a National Historic Landmark and the only 20th-century blast furnace open for things to do in Birmingham. Walk the same catwalks for the ultimate Halloween road trip stop.

Sloss Furnaces Tour Info:

📍 20 32nd Street North, Birmingham, AL 35222
🕐 Open: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-4pm | Sunday 12pm-4pm | Closed Mondays
💵 Admission: Self-guided FREE | Guided tours $10 | After-dark ghost tours $25, select nights
📞 205-324-1911 | Managed by City of Birmingham
🅿 Free parking on site

⚠ Note: Real industrial ruin. Uneven ground, metal stairs, no A/C. Wear closed-toe shoes.
Perfect for ghost hunters, urban exploring, true crime fans, and anyone Googling “most haunted places in America” or “weekend trip Birmingham.”
⚠ Warning: The blower room gets active. Former workers say Slag doesn’t like visitors after dark. Don’t tour alone.
👻 Have you felt a shove at Sloss?

Slightly Odd Society

Slightly Odd Society by Slightly Odd America

A very special thank you to the Slightly Odd Society Members on Patreon and Substack!

Ruth Dempsey

SpookyTooth

Mike Faria

JP

Corey


About the Author

Ed Sweeney documents folklore, odd history, hauntings, and cryptid cases at SlightlyOddAmerica.com. He wrote Slightly Odd Fitchburg: The Odd and Haunted History of Central Massachusetts, is a content creator, and founder of the Slightly Odd Society

Follow: Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

Subscribe: Patreon | Substack

Support: Buy Me A Coffee | Merch


Location: 20 32nd St N, Birmingham, AL 35222, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Many Hauntings of the S.K. Pierce Mansion – Part 2

-
Image
I'm BAAAA-AAACCKKK!!!!! Let me ask you a question: Who is a haunting for? That might seem silly, but just think about it for a second. Is a haunting for the haunter or the haunted? If you were to die tomorrow, why would you haunt someone? Would it be for your sake or for theirs? Just consider what's going on. You're dead, and you're never coming back. Your Earthly coil has been shed. None of it affects you anymore. Time, space, ailments, old age, it's all gone. The length and breadth of the universe are yours. Eternity is yours. What do you do? You're a celestial being now. Does anything that happened in life matter to you? Let's say you were murdered. So what? Why would you care? You can see the endless reality of the stars ahead of you. Why would the transgressions of an evolved ape against your former meat vessel, all those breathless eons ago, matter to you? Well, maybe we can delve into that question with a look at the S.K. Pierce mansio...
Read more

Ghastly Winter Ghosts of New England – Part One

-
Image
Frostbite takes hold in fewer than 5 minutes. Numbness grips your limbs. Pins and needles race over your skin. Ice crystals form on your body. Your muscles stiffen. Your joints stop working. Your face turns white, then waxy, then hard. That’s what the cold does to you and the cold is New England. You can’t separate them. When a tourist comes in with smiles and words, you don’t have time for it. They get to leave and go back to the warmth. You, the New Englander, live in the cold . Do you really have to wonder why there are so many ghost stories to be told? Up in northern Maine , on the outskirts of Haynesville, there’s a stretch of road so lonely that it’s only named Route 2A. This is the extreme north of Maine in a forgotten piece of the United States that’s so distant from the rest that it gets its electricity from Canada. Not that it needs much power, though. The population of Haynesville, Maine, is only 97, and it’s not set to increase anytime soon. There was a time, however, when ...
Read more

Fitch Bits - The Phantom of Beechwood Mansion

-
Image
Watch the video above or read the article below! This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. I share them and you can get in on the fun by liking my page at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following me at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the haunting story! DID YOU KNOW that Newport, Rhode Island, is home to a Christmas ghost? In the late 19th century, the Beechwood Mansion was a luxurious mansion, frequented by the elite during the Gilded Age, so the fanciest people of the fanciest time. One Christmas Eve, a maid named Abigail was found dead in one of the grand halls. Rumors swirled that she had been pushed from the staircase by a jealous lover, though her death was officially ruled an accident. Fancy people in a fancy time rarely get prosecuted. Anyway, since that fateful night, guests and staff at the Beechwood Mansion have reported strange occurrences every Christmas season. The scent of Abigai...
Read more