West Blocton Coke Ovens EarthCache

A few notes about this Earthcache:

1. There is no physical container to find. In order to log this as Found It, use the 'send message' function to email answers to the questions listed below. Any Found It logs not accompanied by answers in a reasonable amount of time will be deleted.
2. Include in your answers the Name and GC code of this cache.
3. Allow yourself approximately 30 minutes to an hour to complete this cache.
4. This Earthcache is NOT available 24/7.  Park hours are roughly sunrise to sunset.  If it is after dark or the gates are closed, do not attempt this cache.
5. At the time of publication, there was no entrance fee to access the park.  Donations are always accepted.
6. Parking is available near the posted coordinates.  This cache can be completed in any order.  Feel free to walk between stages.  The order of the stops (1-5) is based on driving.  The only stop which will require walking more than a few yards from the vehicle will be Stop 3.
7. Park Rules:
   1. No climbing on or in ovens.
   2. Please stay on trails.
   3. No alcoholic beverages.
   4. Please do not litter (In other words:  CITO).

This Earthcache will take you through Coke Ovens Park near West Blocton, Alabama.  The Earthcache requires visits at five different locations within the park.  You will need to collect information from each stop in order to claim this as a find.  Send all answers to the CO through the 'send message' function.  Any logs without answers sent in a reasonable amount of time will be deleted.

The starting location (Stop 1) for this cache will begin at the posted coordinates and the first informational sign you'll need for qualification.  From there you will travel west up the hill to Stop 2, where you will find another informational sign.  From Stop 2, walk the boardwalk to the north until you reach Stop 3, which consists of several individual signs.  After gathering the needed information at Stop 3, return to the posted coordinates and take a left (north) to reach Stop 4.  After gathering the needed info at stop 4, continue along the road to the north until you reach Stop 5. 

At Stop 1 you will find an informational sign that reads:

In the park are four rows of the remains of the Cahaba Coal Company’s coke ovens. These beehive block ovens were not the earliest coke producing units in the Cahaba Coal Field but may very well have been the largest single installation. Placed end to end the ovens would have covered more than a mile’s length.

In 1883 the Cahaba Coal Company constructed a coal company railroad extension from Woodstock to a mine being opened in a nearby town. A town to be named “Blocton” by mine owner Truman Aldrich for a ton block of coal removed from the No. 2 mine.

By 1887 a “favorable quality of coal for steam purposes” was being furnished to four major railroad corporations. “Blocton” coal was in such demand that all the orders for the coal could not be filled.

By 1889, 140 coke ovens were in operation. 150 ovens were ready for operation and 185 additional ovens were authorized because of the successful use by the Pioneer Mining and Manufacturing Company of coke made from the “Blocton” coal. Also a favorable report on the qualities of “Blocton” coke for blast furnace purposes was issued by John Fulton, a recognized authority in the field. One hundred tons of “Blocton” coke was now being shipped daily to the Eureka Company at Oxmoor and the same quantity to Birmingham Furnace and Manufacturing Company at Trussville. Coke was also supplied to a company in Anniston owned by Cahaba Coal Company directors, Samuel Nole and A. L. Tyler.

By the summer of 1890 the Town of Blocton had increased to 3,600 people and 467 coke ovens were in operation with an estimated output of 600 tons a day.

In 1909 US Steel authorized new tracks installed to the Beehive Coke Ovens at Blocton but company records do not record any coke being produced at Blocton after 1909.

During the Great Depression, the cave like, domed openings in the partially dismantled construction were shelters for hobos. Evidence of campfires, food preparation and sleeping pallets could be observed by local youngsters who explored and played on the site in the Thirties and Forties. Many residents in West Blocton have bricks and stones from the ruins in their foundations and in yard retaining walls. The west wall of the Gillespie building on Main Street is constructed of brick from the ovens. Huge quarried stones from some of the ovens’ end-buttresses were used in 1987 to reconstruct an old iron furnace at Tannehill State Park.

The coke ovens represent one of the few remaining vestiges of Old Blocton, the once thriving company town, and are a landmark in Alabama’s late Nineteenth Century industrial development.

To claim this Earthcache as a find, visit each of the following stops and answer the questions associated with each stop. Make sure to include the Name and GC Code of this cache with your answers.

Stop 1:  Posted Coordinates.

1. How many rows of ovens remain in the park?
2. How many coke ovens were in operation by the summer of 1890?

Stop 2:  N33° 07.075 W087° 06.462

1. When did construction begin at this location? 
2. Just a few feet east of where you stand are the two large end buttresses from the original construction project.  Describe these structures:  What is their height and width?  What material are they made of?
3. According to the sign, these end buttresses represented the end to which rows of double ovens?

Stop 3:  N33° 07.132 W087° 06.491

1. How many signs are available at this location?
2. What geologic material is used to make coke?
3. How many hours did it usually take for a charge to burn?
4. Watering an oven usually took how many hours?

Stop 4:  N33°07.121 W087° 06.402

1. What is located at this location and how would it relate to the coke ovens?

Stop 5: N33° 07.242 W087° 06.531

1. To the west (left) of the sign, there are three prominent structures protruding out of the hill.  What is the shape of these structures?
2. What material was used to build these structures?

While not required, pictures are welcome as long as they do not include spoilers.

There is no reason to wait for a response confirming your answers. If you feel you've satisfied the requirements, go ahead and log your find. It is my goal to respond to every email but if you do not send your email address, I will not be able to respond.