Atlanta Rolling Mill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The Antebellum Atlanta Rolling Mill

Rolling mill from the west after its destruction

The Atlanta Rolling Mill was constructed in 1858 by Lewis Schofield and James Blake and soon after, Schofield and William Markham took it over and transformed it into the South's second most productive rolling mill, after the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia. Their specialty was re-rolling worn out railroad rails but during the American Civil War it also rolled out two-inch thick sheets of iron to clad the CSS Virginia.

It was bought out by Charleston, SC interests in 1863 and became known as the Confederate Rolling Mill when it produced the former products as well as cannon.

When the Confederate army left the besieged city on September 1, 1864 after the Battle of Jonesboro they destroyed everything of military interest including the mill.

It was located on the current site of the Fulton Bag Lofts in Cabbagetown on the south side of the Georgia Railroad just east of Oakland Cemetery.