 The fertile lowlands of the Nashville Basin and the Bluegrass Basin gave rise to the cities of Nashville, Lexington, and Louisville, which grew into banking and mercantile centers in the 19th century, home to an elite class of Upland Southerners, including bankers, lawyers, educators, and politicians.The abundance of iron ore, coal, and limestone in the Birmingham District transformed a gritty boom town into the iron and steel city of Birmingham which anchored the southern urban industrial powerhouse and gave rise to a class of blue collar workers who were the life blood of the city, as well as a cosmopolitan class of bankers, lawyers, and politicians.Most of the Upland South, however, remained rural in character.