A post Civil War America in shambles desperately needed revitalization, stimulation of the economy began through the rise of an industrial forward America through manufacturing opportunities. Rich ore deposits in the area attracted industrial interests, and in 1906 U.S. Steel purchased a mining camp in West field Alabama from the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. In order to maintain a strong base of labor, U.S. Steel designed an extraordinary ‘company town’ for its African-American workers. West field Village, as it was called, provided schools, churches, health care, commissary and recreational facilities. Not only did a job at the steel mine provide homes and a sense of security, but it engendered a generation of African Americans for the working world.