Bessemer is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States and a southwestern suburb of Birmingham.

[9] Located 16 miles southwest of Birmingham, Bessemer grew rapidly and its promoters believed that it might overtake the other city in economic power.

Given the iron ore, coal and limestone deposits in the area, the city became a center of steelmaking from about 1890 through the 20th century.

[citation needed] In 2019, it was named Alabama's "Worst City to Live in" by 24/7 Wall Street.

[2] Bessemer is situated in the midst of the iron ore and limestone district of Alabama, in the southern part of Jones Valley (about 3 miles (4.8 km) wide).

All three ingredients were necessary for steelmaking, which led to the area becoming a major steel center from about 1890 through the twentieth century.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

[citation needed] Both blacks and whites from rural areas were attracted to the city for its new work opportunities.

Gradually African Americans moved into industrial jobs and became part of integrated unions.

[19] Bessemer was once home to a large railroad car manufacturing factory, operated by Pullman Standard for many decades and later by Trinity Industries.

With railroad restructuring in the late 20th century and other manufacturing moving offshore, this plant ceased most production in the 1990s.

[citation needed] The decline of mining and exodus of the steelmaking and railcar manufacturing industries resulted in extensive loss of jobs.

It faced an economic crisis in the early to mid-1980s, as unemployed workers constituted more than one-third of the workforce.

In June 2018, Amazon announced that it would build a new 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2), $325 million fulfillment center in Bessemer, which will initially create 1,500 new jobs.

Of these, the violent crimes consisted of 10 murders, 17 forcible rapes, 76 robberies and 366 aggravated assaults, while 221 burglaries, 1,542 larceny-thefts, 286 motor vehicle thefts and 8 acts of arson defined the property offenses.

The "Cutoff" had a separate series of Alabama license plates, with a different numeric prefix than the rest of the county.

Bessemer has since been surpassed in size by Birmingham suburbs such as Hoover, Vestavia Hills, and Homewood.

[citation needed] One radio station, WZGX (1450 AM), operates within the city; it broadcasts some Spanish-language programming and music to appeal to the growing Mexican-American population of Jefferson County.

It also continues a tradition of broadcasting high school football games on Friday nights.

All of Birmingham's television stations may be viewed in Bessemer, and some have established news bureaus there.

Passenger service decreased after people started choosing to travel by automobiles, increasingly so after World War II.

A major railroad feature is the "High Line", constructed by Tennessee Coal & Iron (predecessor to U.S. Steel) to ship iron ore from the mines on the city's south side to the steel works in nearby Fairfield.