Woodward Iron Company

Description

Product Details
Nicely engraved antique stock certificate from the Woodward Iron Company dating back to the 1950's. This document, which carries the printed signatures of the company President and Secretary, was printed by the E. A. Wright Bank Note Company, and measures approximately 12 1/4" (w) by 8 1/4" (h).
The vignette features two male figures flanking the company logo.
Images
The images presented are representative of the piece(s) you will receive. When representative images are presented for one of our offerings, you will receive a certificate in similar condition as the one pictured; however dating, denomination, certificate number and issuance details may vary.
Historical Context
The Woodward Iron Company was founded by Stimpson Harvey Woodward, an ironmaker from Massachusetts, and its dynasty was born in 1882 when the first mine was opened on Birmingham's Red Mountain (Alabama). A virtual boomtown followed: miles of railroad track, four locomotives, fifty railroad cars, sixty-three single coke ovens, eighty double coke ovens, and housing for over a thousand employees, all of which later became the town of Woodward.
Michael Fazio describes the rise of the Woodward Iron Company throughout the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth, a rise that contributed to a national iron industry that overtook England as the world's leading producer of the metal. The iron boom couldn't last forever, though, and as the company moved into the early 1900s, iron prices dropped, and everyone in the industry suffered. This included the Woodwards, who lost millions of dollars before the Great Depression.
The company stayed in business until 1973 when the company was liquidated.