The Wenonah community (formerly Fossil) was the name of one of a series of Red Mountain ore mining camps for employees of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company (TCI). Name The name was chosen by TCI's social science director Marion Whidden as a complement to the company's Ishkooda and Muscoda camps. All three names appear in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem "The Song of Hiawatha". The TCI camps were designated from west to east as: Muscoda Division Camp - mines #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, Wenonah Division Camp ( originally referred to as the TCI Fossil Division ) mines #6½ #7, #8, #9, #10 and the Ishkooda Division Camp - mines #11, #12, #13, #14, #15. History The oldest TCI mine was in the Ishkooda camp #13, which opened in 1873 as part the Eureka Company Mines and was called Eureka #2 mine. The oldest Wenonah Camps were #7 and #10 where the mines opened in 1880, known then as the Alice mine - #7 and Redding mine - #10. Mine #6½, which opened in 1910 and other mines were listed on the 1916 Birmingham Mining District maps. Wenonah Number 6½ was next to the Woodward Iron Company's Red Ore camp mine #2, which was on the #6½ western boundary, and also near here was the location of the water reservoir that in about 1947 was replaced with a covered water tank, now owned by the Bessemer Water Works. The reservoir/tank is located in the Lipscomb area of Jefferson County. By 1900, TCI was operating 15 iron ore mines in the Birmingham District including the Wenonah #7, and #8 mining camps. In 1880, before TCI became the owner, the #7 mine was operated by T.T. Hillman and Henry DeBardeleben's Alice Furnace Company. The #7 mine in those days was called the Alice Mine and also sometimes referred to as the Hillman Mine. The Wenonah #8 mine, opened in 1887, was originally the Fossil Mine and was operated by the Smith Mining Company. Wenonah Mining Camp #7, later in 1940, became the site of the sintering plant that processed the iron ore before being transported via The High Line Railroad connection from Red Mountain to the Fairfield Works. The Highline was constructed in 1925. In 1914, TCI began ongoing facilities and programs to improve lives of employees with schools (Wenonah School), hospitals (Lloyd Noland Hospital), training programs and housing. Camp