Hunt Refinery

This is Hunt Refining Company in Tuscaloosa. This refinery has been a major employer in Tuscaloosa since 1946. They make products including oil, gas, jet fuel, diesel fuel, home heating oil, and paving asphalt. If you buy gas at a Parade station in the southeast, that fuel was refined right here. Hunt products are marketed as far as New Jersey to the north and Houston and Pensacola to the west and south.

Work in Tuscaloosa

If you lived in Tuscaloosa, chances are you would know someone who worked at or had retired from "the rubber plant," BF Goodrich. This plant has been manufacturing tires for as long as I can remember. It is unionized and over the years has experienced many strikes, a buyout by Michelin, and unfortunately recent layoffs. But at least it's still here. The plant in Opelika, Alabama hasn't fared as well.

Nucor Steel

This is Nucor Steel, formerly Tuscaloosa Steel, on the banks of the Black Warrior River in Holt, Alabama, built in 1985 on the site of the former Gulf States Paper Corporation. This picture was taken from the newest bridge spanning the river, the Paul W. Bryant Bridge that connects near Northport and Holt. For years the "Paper Mill" was one of the largest employers in Tuscaloosa. When it closed this mill in the 1980s it was a major blow to the workforce in town. Thankfully, new industry was able to replace the old.