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Woodward Iron Company Works Site, Woodward, Alabama.

Rich in the primary ingredients for making iron—iron ore, coal and limestone—central Alabama has been a center of iron production since before the Civil War. Many railroad companies and iron manufacturers set up shop in Jefferson County, and the region's iron ore made the city of Birmingham famous for high-quality foundry iron. The Woodward Iron Company established the first iron furnaces in the Bessemer area just south of Birmingham in the 1880s. By 1966, the company had become one of the largest independent manufacturers of pig iron in the United States. The furnaces shown here were demolished in 1974-75. (See HABS/HAER, National Park Service for more history.)

View of furnaces with crane track
descriptive record icon enlarge image icon  Detail of [View of #2 (left) and #1 (right) furnaces with crane track. Photograph by Jack E. Boucher, April 1974.]
(Reproduction Number: HAER, ALA, 37-WOOD,1-13)

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St. Michael's Cathedral, Sitka, Alaska.

St. Michael's Cathedral, the center of the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska, was completed in 1848. In 1942 it became the first building in Alaska measured by HABS. Unfortunately, the Cathedral was destroyed by a fire that devastated downtown Sitka on January 2, 1966. The HABS drawings served as the basis for the reconstruction of the church. In this instance, the HABS documentation was the most complete and reliable source of information on the destroyed building, thus serving as a form of protection from catastrophic loss.

Detail of measured drawing of St. Michael's Cathedral
descriptive record icon enlarge image icon  Detail of [Measured drawing delineated by Robert G. Higginbotham, 1961.]
(Reproduction Number: HABS, AK,17-SITKA,1- Sheet 5 of 6)

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San Xavier del Bac Mission, Tucson Vicinity, Arizona.

The Mission of San Xavier del Bac is generally considered one of the most beautiful of the Spanish missions in the United States. In 1797 the church was constructed of adobe on a site that had been a mission since the beginning of the 1700s. It is shown here following restoration work completed in the early 1900's. The history of the mission mirrors the ebb and flow of the Spanish presence in the southwest.

Exterior view of San Xavier del Bac Mission
descriptive record icon enlarge image icon  Front elevation. Photograph by John P. O'Neill, March 3, 1937.
(Reproduction Number: HABS, ARIZ, 10-TUCSO.V, 3-5)

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Bathhouse Row, Fordyce Bathhouse, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.

Praised by its original owner as "the most practical, complete, and luxurious bathhouse in the world," the Fordyce Bathhouse in Hot Springs stands today as a reminder of the international health-spa craze of the first half of the twentieth century. People from all over the world flocked to the Fordyce and the other bathhouses on "Bathhouse Row" in Hot Springs in the hope that the many natural springs in the area would help cure their illnesses. Visitors at the Fordyce bought their bath tickets in this foyer before proceeding to the dressing rooms and then to the baths. Today, the Fordyce Bathhouse is the Visitor Center at Hot Springs National Park.

Entrance foyer of the Fordyce Bathhouse
descriptive record icon enlarge image icon  Entrance foyer, first floor, from south. Photograph by Jack E. Boucher, June 1984.
(Reproduction Number: HABS, ARK, 26-HOSP, 1-D-17)

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