The land that is now Red Mountain Park was home to three mining camps where workers and their families lived from roughly 1890 to 1920. In this tour, we will take a look at the remnants of three workers’ houses at the mining camp of Smythe, where archaeological excavations are ongoing.

We will meet at 9 a.m. at the picnic tables at the park's Frankfurt Drive entrance, 2011 Frankfurt Drive.  The tour will include around half a mile of walking. Please dress weather appropriately and wear sturdy closed-toe shoes. 

This event is free for Red Mountain Park members and a suggested $5 donation for non-members ages 5 and up. 

Bio: Will McCollum is a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of Chicago. Will conducts historical and archaeological research in Birmingham, where he examines late nineteenth-century mining camps and company towns that formed the basis for the growth and development of the industrial capital of the New South at the turn of the twentieth century. As his dissertation project, he is excavating the living quarters of miners and their families at the mining camp of Smythe, in what is now Red Mountain Park.