On what should have been a joyful evening to ring in the New Year, the staff at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark made an alarming discovery: the wall of the hundred-year-old Power House had been vandalized with spray paint graffiti.

Sloss Furnaces vandalized on New Year’s Eve

First fired up way back in 1882, Sloss Furnaces was one of several pig iron-producing blast furnaces in Birmingham’s early industrial era. Like the other plants, Sloss Furnaces capitalized on Birmingham’s unique natural resources—iron ore, coal and limestone, the three ingredients needed to produce iron. Sloss and other local blast furnaces contributed heavily to the city’s rapid growth in the early 20th century, which helped coin Birmingham’s beloved nickname: The Magic City.

After closing up shop in 1971, Sloss Furnaces was designated National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior, making it the only blast furnace in the country preserved for public use. Today, Sloss is home to the nationally-recognized Sloss Metal Arts program, sees more than 100,000 visitors each year and hosts scores of events, from Día de los Muertos and Magic City Art Connection to Furnace Fest and the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Sloss Furnaces is an irreplaceable and unique landmark—which makes the New Year’s Eve vandalism so harmful.

After discovering the graffiti, the staff at Sloss Furnaces shared the following message on Facebook:

“To our Writer/Tagger community. We admire public art and Sloss Furnaces even held a graffiti art exhibition here years ago. This week you broke a trust that you’ve respected on our historic site for many years. Most of what you see is nearly 100 years old and there is nothing like it in the United States. It will cost us thousands of dollars to remove this tag and it could damage the Power House in the process. If you know the person who did this, tell them it wasn’t OK.

– From your friends at Sloss Furnaces -“
Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark wrote on Facebook

Since the structure is more than a hundred years old, removing the spray paint without damaging the underlying bricks will be a challenge. The team at Sloss Furnaces is currently receiving quotes for the project; luckily, the cost of the repair will be covered by the City of Birmingham.

What’s next for Sloss Furnaces + how you can support the local landmark

concept mockup image for sloss furnaces — An artist’s rendition of proposed additions to Sloss Furnaces. (Sloss Furnaces)

In November 2025, Sloss Furnaces announced plans for significant additions to its campus that would be a major boost for Birmingham tourism. Here’s the scoop: the plan is to transform Sloss Furnaces from a landmark into a public park, complete with walking trails, play areas for children and adults, improved vehicle/pedestrian infrastructure and even an outdoor elevator leading to a platform at the top of the furnace. Of course, none of these plans will interfere with the historic furnace site.

In order to fund the endeavor, Sloss Furnaces will soon launch a capital campaign to raise $12 million in funding by the end of 2026. Although the capital campaign is not yet live, you can help support the upkeep of historic Sloss Furnaces by donating online.

Did you see the graffiti on Sloss Furnaces? Tag us @bhamnow to let us know!