edgewater

It takes two tons of water to make a single ton of steel. Bayview dam was constructed to supply this need. Coal is required. Mines were constructed to obtain this valuable resource. There was one more thing that TCI needed to make steel. PEOPLE. At the turn of the century the Birmingham area was a difficult place to live. Only 20 years earlier the area had been for the most part empty. The summers were sweltering, the water supply scarce. The winters were short but bitterly cold. TCI need to lure a large labor force to the area. The answer the company came up with was to build a community around its mines. Edgewater was one of these communities. Built near the Edgewater Mine Edgewater had company homes along with a store, church, and a school. Rent for a company house was $8 a month which included light and water. The homes were built in similar fashion with four rooms with a center pointed roof. Each room had a fireplace but all shared a common chimney which was in the center of the house. The homes were heated by coal and had no indoor plumbing. Usually an outdoor hydrant provided water. Most houses had two front doors so that two families could occupy the same house. As you can guess the "outhouse" was on every lot. The company supplied buckets which were picked up at regular intervals by a horse drawn wagon which was nicknamed, "The Honey Wagon". Another wagon also supplied by the company served as the garbage pickup.
There was a section known as "Village Maintenance". These company employees were responsible for the maintenance on all the houses. There was a carpentry shop, paint supply building, and a lumber supply.