city, Jefferson county, north-central Alabama, U.S., about 15 miles (25 km) southwest of downtown Birmingham in the foothills of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Named for inventor and engineer Sir Henry Bessemer (Bessemer, Sir Henry), it was founded on the site of Fort Jonesboro in 1887 by Henry F. DeBardeleben, a local coal and iron baron who built the first steel plant in the area. The city was planned as a steel centre, and its manufactures included railroad cars, pipe, structural materials, chemicals, and explosives. Service industries now dominate the city's economy, but the manufacture of metal products remains important. Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park is 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Bessemer and hosts the Southern Appalachian Dulcimer Festival in May. Inc. 1888. Pop. (1990) 33,497; (2000) 29,672.