Industrial Development and Manufacturing in the Antebellum Gulf South- A Reevaluation, by Michael S. Frawley.
Using newspapers, census records (often underutilized), credit reports, and other sources Frawley has uncovered manufacturing firms that were either skipped, or even not noticed in the census recording. Though southern manufacturing firms could not match the output of northern states, we find that such entities had established themselves as vital forces in the southern economy on the eve of the civil war. Maybe we have here another piece of information as to how the Confederacy managed to hang on as long at it did?
A small book, 127 pages, (and pricy) I am finding it very interesting. Seems to be pretty solid, IMHO.