Sloss Furnaces is a National Historic Landmark – the only blast furnace ever turned into a museum – and it’s pretty damn haunted. The 50-acre industrial plant operated from 1882 until 1970, and was notorious for its high number of worker deaths via steam explosions, burns, and falls in underground tunnels. One specific ghost known to haunt the premises is that of James “Slag” Wormwood, a cruel and unpleasant graveyard shift foreman from the early 1900s, who was in charge when a total of 47 crew members lost their lives. In 1906, Wormwood fell into an enormous pool of melted iron ore and died. From that point on, workers felt a strange presence at Sloss, and in 1926, a night watchman was mysteriously pushed from behind and injured. In 1947, three supervisors were found unconscious in a locked boiler room. According to the men, a badly burned worker had approached them just prior to the incident and told them to get back to work.
A paranormal team from Syfy’s Ghost Hunters (along with Meat Loaf) investigated the site in 2010.
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