Ensley, Alabama

Rivers & Roads in Song near Ensley

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Ensley.

25 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

• Ensley, AL · Local history

  Ensley, Alabama, a historic steel town on Birmingham's west side, has been grappling with its legacy and future. While the steel mills that once defined the area have long been shuttered, the community's more recent…

• Rickwood Field · 1.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb

  Step back in time at the oldest professional baseball stadium in the United States, where legends like Babe Ruth and Willie Mays once played. This is Rickwood Field, built in 1910 by industrialist Rick Woodward for his…

• 16th Street Baptist Church · 4.1 mi · Historical Marker

  On September 15, 1963, Klan members bombed this church during Sunday school, killing four young girls and shocking the nation.

• Oak Hill Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama) · 4.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb

  Pull over for a moment. Right here, in Oak Hill Cemetery, lies a huge piece of Birmingham's history. This is the city's oldest cemetery, dating back to before Birmingham even existed. In 1869, before the city was…

• Birmingham, AL · 4.4 mi · Wikipedia

  Founded in 1871 from the merger of three communities, Birmingham quickly rose as an industrial and transportation hub. Its growth was fueled by mining, steel production, and railroads, attracting a labor force that…

• Alabama Theatre · 4.4 mi · Scraped Hmdb

  Step back in time to the roaring twenties – right here where you're driving, the Alabama Theatre was the place to be! Imagine dazzling movie premieres and the sweet sounds of a Wurlitzer organ filling the air. Built in…

• Redmont Hotel · 4.6 mi · Scraped Hmdb

  Pull over for a second; this is Birmingham's oldest hotel, the Redmont, and if these walls could talk, they'd tell tales of celebrities, dignitaries, and maybe even a ghost or two! Construction began on the Redmont in…

• The Iron Man on Red Mountain · 4.9 mi

  A 56-foot iron god stands watch over Birmingham, and he's the city in a nutshell. Vulcan, the Roman god of the forge, is the largest cast-iron statue in the world, perched atop Red Mountain on the very ore ridge that…

• Birmingham, AL · 4.9 mi · Local history

  The city of Birmingham, Alabama, didn't just spring up overnight. The story begins long before its official founding in 1871, with the land itself. The surrounding landscape, a mix of oak, hickory, and pine forests…

• Morris Avenue–First Avenue North Historic District · 4.9 mi · Scraped Hmdb

  Imagine Birmingham without a central hub for food and goods – that's what Morris Avenue solved! In the late 1800s, this area became the city's primary food distribution center. Warehouses sprung up along Morris Avenue,…

• Vulcan statue · 5.4 mi · Scraped Hmdb

  Ever wonder why Birmingham is called the 'Magic City?' It's all about iron, and this giant statue of Vulcan proves it! Back in 1904, Birmingham wanted to show off at the World's Fair in St. Louis. They commissioned this…

• Sloss Furnaces · 5.5 mi · Scraped Hmdb

  Imagine the roar of fire and the clang of metal: this place powered Birmingham's rise! Sloss Furnaces churned out pig iron for nearly a century. From 1882 to 1971, workers toiled here, enduring grueling conditions to…

• Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark · 5.5 mi · Historical Marker

  Pig iron blast furnaces that operated for nearly ninety years, now preserved as the only furnaces of their kind open to the public in the world.

• Homewood, AL · 5.6 mi

  Homewood, Alabama, a suburb just south of Birmingham, has a history that stretches back to the early 20th century. While not a hotbed of celebrity culture, its quiet, residential streets have nurtured talent that has…

• Hueytown, AL · 7.5 mi · Local history

  Hueytown, Alabama, nestled in the rolling hills west of Birmingham, owes its name to a prominent family who shaped the area in the 19th century. The Hueys were early settlers, arriving in the region and establishing…

• Steel in Twenty Minutes · 8.2 mi

  Here's the trick the whole town is named for. Molten iron straight from the furnace, called pig iron, has too much carbon in it, which makes it brittle. The old way to fix that took at least a full day of heating,…

• A Pinch of Carbon Changes Everything · 8.2 mi

  Here's a fact that runs this whole valley: the only real difference between soft iron, tough steel, and brittle iron is a tiny pinch of carbon. Take iron with almost no carbon, under a twentieth of one percent, and you…

• The Iron God on the Mountain · 8.4 mi

  Just up the road on Red Mountain stands the world's largest cast-iron statue, and it's the perfect mascot for this valley. It's Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and the forge, hammer in hand, fifty-six feet tall and…

• Bessemer, AL · 8.4 mi

  Bessemer, Alabama, a city forged in the fires of industry and named for the steelmaking pioneer Henry Bessemer, carries the weight of its history like a seasoned foundry worker. While its peak population has dwindled…

• Why a City Is Named for a Machine · 8.4 mi

  Most towns are named for a founder, a saint, or a hometown back east. Bessemer, Alabama, is named for a piece of technology. In 1887, industrialist Henry F. DeBardeleben bought thousands of acres in Jefferson County and…

• The Luckiest Geology on Earth · 8.7 mi

  To make steel you need exactly three raw ingredients: iron ore, coal to fire the furnaces, and limestone to pull out impurities. In almost every steel city on Earth, those three things sit far apart and have to be…

• Gardendale, AL · 11.2 mi · Local history

  Gardendale, Alabama, sits nestled in the rolling hills of northern Jefferson County, its story deeply entwined with the iron ore that fueled Birmingham's rise. Originally a scattering of farms and small settlements, the…

• Helena, AL · 14.9 mi · Local history

  Helena, Alabama, nestled in the Cahaba River valley, bears the quiet imprint of its Scotch-Irish and English settlers. These families, drawn by the promise of fertile land in the early 19th century, established the…

• Pelham, AL · 16.1 mi

  Pelham, Alabama, might seem like just another suburb south of Birmingham, but it's quietly nurtured some impressive talent. While it may not boast a sprawling Hollywood Walk of Fame, its athletic legacy is particularly…

• Trussville, AL · 18.7 mi

  Trussville, Alabama, a place where the air is crisp at 712 feet above sea level, holds more than just scenic views and a strong sense of community.