The Fourth Avenue "Strip" thrived during a time when downtown privileges for blacks were limited. Although blacks could shop at some white-owned stores, they did not share the same privileges and services as white customers, so they created . . . — — Map (db m26985) HM
This cemetery is the final resting place of three of the four young girls killed in the September 15, 1963 church bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carol Robertson are buried here. The fourth victim, . . . — — Map (db m61197) HM
The house was built c. 1908 for Adolph B. Loveman, a Hungarian immigrant who in 1887 founded the dry goods business that evolved into one of Birmingham’s signature retail establishments, Loveman, Joseph & Loeb. Its English-style neighbor to the . . . — — Map (db m83800) HM
Rev. Shuttlesworth returned frequently to Birmingham to lead the
ACMHR in a strategic alliance with the SCLC to bring national attention to
Birmingham and the need to end racial discrimination in America.
ACMHR staff worked with the SCLC's . . . — — Map (db m189139) HM
Because of his fearlessness, college student activists who staged
sit-ins and integrated bus rides in the 1960s knew they could depend
on support from Rey. Shuttlesworth and the ACMHR. He supported
Miles College student leader Frank Dukes and his . . . — — Map (db m189134) HM
Built in 1935, remodeled 1945 (corner 4th Ave. N. & 17th St. N.)
The Carver Theatre for the Performing Arts was built in 1935 and
refitted in 1945 with all of the modern comforts and features of the
day, including 1,300 theatre chairs and . . . — — Map (db m188189) HM
Built 1913, 310 18th St. N.
The Alabama Penny Savings Bank, founded by Sixteenth Street
Baptist Church pastor Rev. William R. Pettiford, was Alabama's
first Black-owned bank and the second-largest Black bank in the
country by 1907. He . . . — — Map (db m188950) HM
Built by the Publix Theater division of Paramount Studios. This movie palace opened on December 26th, 1927. The theatre, in Spanish / Moorish design by Graven and Mayger of Chicago, seated 2500 in a five story, three-tiered auditorium. Paramount's . . . — — Map (db m27337) HM
Pearl Harbor
May 31, 1941
Dear Friend,
I hope all is well with you. I am doing well but due to the present state of emergency the Pacific Fleet is held in a place known as Hawaiian Territory.
Would you do me a . . . — — Map (db m27409) HM
Southern members of the U.S. Congress in 1956 issued the "Southern Manifesto” that called the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown decision an "abuse of judicial power." By forcing public school integration contrary to social custom,
the high court had . . . — — Map (db m187661) HM
Built during the Roaring Twenties, the Altamont
Apartments broke ground in 1924 and were
completed in 1925. Designed by architect Jacob E.
Sallte as an apartment/hotel, they were built
to attract affluent businessmen who desired
luxury, . . . — — Map (db m216069) HM
1946
This two-story Queen-Anne-style house at the
corner of Center Street and 11th Court North was built
around 1900 for the Hayes family. White neighbors
objected when they learned the Hayes family sold
their house to a Black couple, . . . — — Map (db m189180) HM
Shuttlesworth began to dedicate himself to the ministry and enrolled
in Cedar Grove Bible College, a Baptist institution in the Mobile suburb
of Pritchard. He took classes at night while he worked during the day.
The young couple added two more . . . — — Map (db m187628) HM
Child protestors overwhelmed police, who found it hard to confine
them to the Kelly Ingram Park area. Organizers used clever methods
to get them to City Hall before police could stop them. Children were
sent out in pairs. When they got closer to . . . — — Map (db m187836) HM
During the first 30 years of his 54-year-old practice, Attorney Shores practiced all over the State of Alabama - from the Tennessee line to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay, and from the Mississippi borders to the Georgia limits. During the period . . . — — Map (db m26720) HM
Congregation Beth-El was founded in 1907 on Birmingham's north side. Its leadership came from Knesseth Israel, the city's Orthodox Jewish congregation. Beth-El was established as a modern. yet traditional congregation. Construction on the synagogue . . . — — Map (db m216067) HM
1949
For four decades, Shores was deeply involved in civil
rights challenges handling dozens of cases primarily
for the Birmingham branch of the NAACP on behalf of
African Americans. In the 1940s, the Birmingham
NAACP had grown to more . . . — — Map (db m189188) HM
A key player in the Birmingham civil rights drama was Public Safety
Commissioner Theophilus Eugene Connor. He earned the nickname
"Bull” because of his booming voice as a radio sports announcer. White
voters who supported his politics of racial . . . — — Map (db m187780) HM
Built 1940, 1420 7th Ave. N.
The Ballard House honors a time when thriving
neighborhoods; businesses, churches, social, cultural,
and civic organizations; made up a dynamic
African-American community during the first half of
the 20th . . . — — Map (db m187886) HM
Red Mountain, where you are standing, and Jones Valley, which stretches before you, were sites of human activity long before Birmingham's founding in 1871.
Native American presence
Recorded history and archaeological evidence indicate the . . . — — Map (db m83805) HM
The Corey Land Company, a group of prominent local businessmen headed by Robert Jemison, Jr., developed Belview Heights as a neighborhood for the professional employees of U.S. Steel in the 1910's. Extending the grid system being used in Ensley over . . . — — Map (db m24351) HM
This row of buildings from 2009 to 2017 Second Avenue dates from the early years of the 20th century and has undergone a variety of changes and modernizations over the years. Originally part of a larger building that burned in 1944 (now the site of . . . — — Map (db m38563) HM
Alabama's chapters of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) were particularly effective in filing federal
lawsuits that challenged racial segregation laws and advocating for
voting rights. NAACP members also . . . — — Map (db m188970) HM
Built 1947-50, 710 20th St. N.
Birmingham City Hall was the administrative center for the
enforcement of local segregation codes. Thus, this building was
one of the major destination points for the “Project C" marchers
in the 1963 . . . — — Map (db m187717) HM
Built 1992, 520 16th St. N.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute contains permanent exhibitions and photo galleries, offering visitors a self-directed
journey through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and
1960s to the human rights . . . — — Map (db m187515) HM
The availability of seemingly limitless mineral resources was the key to the success of the Birmingham District, an area defined by geologic deposits that span five counties (Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa, Walker and Bibb). Some of the minerals . . . — — Map (db m69026) HM
In 1884, when Birmingham was
scarcely a decade old, the L&N
Railroad laid the first tracks for
its mineral railroad, to begin
hauling ore from Red Mountain
mines to furnaces, mills, and
rail connections in Jones Valley.
By the early 1900s, . . . — — Map (db m189284) HM
The concrete marker below
made with blast furnace slag
instead of rocks is located a
few feet from its original
position where it designated the
beginning and angle of the
curve in the train tracks. — — Map (db m188883) HM
Birmingham’s first library was organized in 1886 and in 1891 became a subscription library for the general public. In 1908 the Birmingham Public Library Association established a free public library, and the City created an independent Library Board . . . — — Map (db m83856) HM
Side A The Elyton Land Company, which had founded the city of Birmingham in 1871, established a subsidiary, the Birmingham Water Works Company in 1887. Dr. Henry M. Caldwell, President of the Elyton Land Company, contracted with Judge A. O. . . . — — Map (db m83806) HM
Freddie Lee Robinson was born March 18, 1922, in Mt. Meigs,
Montgomery County, Alabama, to Alberta Robinson and Vetter Greene.
The unmarried couple also conceived a girl, Cleola. Because Vetter
could not provide for his growing family, Alberta's . . . — — Map (db m187631) HM
In January 1957, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called ministers of the
church-led movements in Southern cities, including Montgomery and
Birmingham, to a meeting in Atlanta to form a national organization to
help them all. Civil rights activist . . . — — Map (db m189109) HM
Civil rights activist and pastor, the Rev. Calvin Wallace Woods Sr. was born in Birmingham in 1933. The son of a Baptist preacher, Woods attended historic miles college and various seminary institutions. He distinguished himself as a leader during . . . — — Map (db m187533) HM
1937
Most of Birmingham's housing started as cheap,
poorly built living quarters that large coal and
mining companies created near their factories for
their workers. Living in camp town housing
carried a stigma that many Blacks and . . . — — Map (db m189162) HM
The economic center of the Black retail district was on nearby Fourth
Avenue North. This historic area also served as the main cultural, social
and religious center of Black Birmingham. Blacks felt more relaxed
among their own people in and . . . — — Map (db m187761) HM
1955
By the 1950s, North Smithfield was the residential
area of choice for a new generation of Black
middle-class families, despite the terror bombings
meant to scare them away. This new generation of
African American leaders included A. . . . — — Map (db m189171) HM
In the blast furnace the combination of iron ore, flux (limestone and/or dolomite), coke, and hot air produced molten iron and two waste products: molten slag and blast furnace gas. The molten products collected in the bottom of the furnace and . . . — — Map (db m69078) HM
The blast furnace required a tremendous amount of air - about two tons for every ton of iron produced. These three rooms, known collectively as the blower building, house the equipment used to pump air to the furnaces. Workers called this blast of . . . — — Map (db m43628) HM
In October 1963, the Bluff Park
Art Association began as a fundraiser
for the Bluff Park Elementary School
Library and was incorporated
November 2, 1965.
The founding members included:
Dorothy Copeland, Pres •
Jack A Pearson. Treas . . . — — Map (db m313144) HM
The Process
The boiler was the source of power for most of Sloss. The boilers burned blast furnace gas to provide the heat necessary for converting water into steam. The steam produced here powered the blowing engines and turbo-blowers, the . . . — — Map (db m43728) HM
Built 1924 (Extended in 1957), 1930 8th Ave. N.
In 1924, Municipal Auditorium was one of the South's largest
(6,000 seats) and most modern auditoriums. In April of 1956,
Ku Klux Klansman Asa Carter led an attack on Montgomery
native and . . . — — Map (db m187715) HM
Young Fred loved pulling pranks with the aid of his younger siblings
and friends. He enjoyed going to church every Sunday and began
teaching Sunday School. Because he was so mischievous, his siblings
could hardly believe that his secret goal was . . . — — Map (db m187630) HM
The Brock building was established in 1915, located at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and 18th Street North, was built while the area was residential. The three-story building housed a hotel upstairs that catered to professional musicians and . . . — — Map (db m26723) HM
Side 1 - Building the Park
In the mid-1930’s, civic leaders worked to move Vulcan to a place of honor on Red Mountain. The park was built through the combined efforts of several groups: the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, the Birmingham Parks . . . — — Map (db m83807) HM
Son of a Swedish ironmaster, Linn built Birmingham's first industry, Birmingham Car & Foundry Company (Linn Iron Works); the first bank, The National Bank of Birmingham; and the City's first park, called Linn Park.
When the population was less . . . — — Map (db m216140) HM
In Tribute to
Carrie A. Tuggle
1858 - 1924
Scholar, Teacher and Christian.
A life of unselfish service
to the troubled and the
homeless black boys and girls.
In 1903, she founded
a school and orphanage,
the Tuggle . . . — — Map (db m27391) HM
One popular element of the park’s original design was a water feature known as the cascade. Cascading fountains were important features in formal European gardens. Their terraced pools and waterfalls animated the landscape with the sounds and . . . — — Map (db m83857) HM
The Process
The technology of casting molten iron into bars called pigs changed dramatically over the years. Prior to 1931 casting at Sloss took place inside the cast shed. Men cut molds into the sand floor of the shed, allowing the . . . — — Map (db m69083) HM
has been entered in the
National Register of
Historic Places
by the National Park Service
United States
Department of Interior
1983 — — Map (db m216137) HM
(First Plaque): Navy pilots typically had their names painted on the side and just below the cockpit of one of the squadron aircraft. Most also had "Call Signs," some of which became the nickname of the pilot. On the display aircraft this . . . — — Map (db m83808) HM
Celebrities of all races - but particularly Black singers and actors such as
Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis, Jr., Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, and Ossie
Davis with wife Ruby Dee - played important roles in the Movement.
Some, including comedian Dick . . . — — Map (db m187822) HM
1961
Black middle-class families who moved to North
Smithfield included the Davises, the Coars, the
Monks, the Browns, the Coles, the Adamses, the
Wesleys, the Gaillards, the Powells, the Halls, the
Nalls, the Browns, the Nixons, the . . . — — Map (db m189181) HM
The use of schoolchildren in the Movement unnerved Police Commissioner "Bull” Connor, as well as the rest of Birmingham. But the success
of “D-Day” led to a second day, “Double D-Day," where more children,
about 2,000, skipped school to protest. . . . — — Map (db m187838) HM
Rev. Bevel gave Birmingham children a chance to play important roles in
the struggle for equality. As their field marshal, he turned hundreds of
recruits into an effective non-violent army that “Project C" unleashed
on the retail district. Images . . . — — Map (db m187767) HM
On May 2, 1963, more than 1,000 students skipped school and marched on downtown, gathering at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Bull Connor responded by jailing more than 600 children that day. So the next day, another 1,000 students filled the park . . . — — Map (db m73017) HM
After nearly a month, “Project C” seemed on the verge of collapse. The
presence of Dr. King and the SCLC did not rally Black Birmingham behind
the Movement as leaders hoped. The media began to lose interest and
the White community basically . . . — — Map (db m187840) HM
Birmingham's Black schoolchildren played an important role in moving the
city toward ending legal segregation. Under the leadership of SCLC field coordinators, thousands of children left their segregated schools to join the
marches in the downtown . . . — — Map (db m187682) HM
In 1963, Birmingham underwent a major political transformation. To
force Commissioner “Bull” Connor from office, progressive Whites and
Blacks plotted to change the form of government from Commissioners
to a Mayor-Council system. Mayor Albert . . . — — Map (db m187705) HM
On Mother's Day, May 14, 1961, a group of black and white CORE youth on a "Freedom Ride" from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans arrived by bus at the Birmingham Greyhound terminal. They were riding through the deep south to test a court case, "Boynton . . . — — Map (db m83809) HM
This building was constructed in 1908 by Louis V. Clark (1862-1934), who also built the historic Lyric Theater located nearby on 18th Street. The Clark Theater on Caldwell Park is named in honor of Mr. Clark’s generosity to the Birmingham Little . . . — — Map (db m27515) HM
John Valentine Coe, president of Birmingham Lumber and Coal Company, commissioned this two-story Craftsman-Tudor Revival style house in 1908. Coe, who had previously been a lumber merchant in Selma, moved his family and business to Birmingham at the . . . — — Map (db m83858) HM
Built 1922, 1630 4th Ave. N.
Built and designed by African Americans, the Colored Masonic
Temple served as their only major business and social meeting
place for decades. The Temple's gilded auditorium hosted many elegant social functions . . . — — Map (db m188188) HM
Memorial Park is the site of the Miracle Sunday Prayer Vigil that occurred on May 5, 1963. to protest the incarceration of Civil Rights demonstrators held in the city jail. Citizens attending a mass meeting at New Pilgrim Baptist Church staged a . . . — — Map (db m295304) HM
To Be Opened March 1, 2022
Dedicated at the construction completion March 1, 2002
Project Team
Owners - BLH Group, LLC
Brookmont Investors II, LLC
Spire Holdings, LLC
Developer - Brookmont Realty Group, LLC
General . . . — — Map (db m27010) HM
In the 1940s and 1950s, the NAACP filed a stream of lawsuits against Jim
Crow laws that had given Whites political, economic and social
superiority over Blacks for more than 100 years. Most of Birmingham's
NAACP cases, filed by local Black . . . — — Map (db m187775) HM
Rev. Shuttlesworth often said he expected to die at an early age in his
toe-to-toe battles with violent White segregationists who were bent on
maintaining power. But he outlived Dr. King and Rev. Abernathy, the last of
"the Big Three." He lived . . . — — Map (db m187571) HM
This Statue of Liberty, a bronze replica one fifth the size of the original, was commissioned by Frank Park Samford as the symbol for the company he founded -Liberty National Life Insurance Company. Created by sculptors Archer and Lee Lawrie, the . . . — — Map (db m273726) HM
Rev. Bevel and his team worked with popular disc jockeys "Tall Paul”
Dudley White and Shelley “The Playboy" Stewart, whose jive talk on the
radio was actually a secret code that told young foot soldiers when it
was time to "move out.” Despite . . . — — Map (db m187770) HM
Many African Americans continued to push for the right to an equal
education that the 1954 Brown decision gave them. Despite angry
threats of violence and intense economic pressure, those first few African American families in Birmingham who chose . . . — — Map (db m187693) HM
Community civil rights leaders who helped organize the Movement and embraced the philosophy of nonviolence looked for well-disciplined children with good moral character who would at retaliate if they encountered bullying or violence by White . . . — — Map (db m187690) HM
Vulcan Park isn’t just Vulcan’s home; it’s also a public park. The original project, funded by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) aimed for “general beautification of the entire acreage” to create” an ideal spot for untold scenic beauty.” The . . . — — Map (db m69015) HM
The two commercial buildings on this corner lot are some of the earliest surviving business houses in Birmingham. The Dewberry building appeared on the corner about 1881, and it housed the first and longest surviving drug store in the city, starting . . . — — Map (db m36740) HM
Disabled American Veterans Formed December 25, 1920.
Birmingham Chapter No. 4 Chartered January 25, 1926.
This memorial dedicated to our military forces and to all who have given their blood and lives that the republic might . . . — — Map (db m24347) WM
This neoclassical structure was built in 1905 for James W. Donnelly, "the father of the Birmingham Library System."
Donnelly moved to Birmingham from his native Cincinnati, Ohio after retiring from Proctor and Gamble. A much respected . . . — — Map (db m26740) HM
Leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) learned they could apply economic pressure to White businesses with more effective results than moral persuasion alone. Therefore, the central strategy of the Birmingham Campaign . . . — — Map (db m73037) HM
Born Jan. 15, 1929 Assassinated Apr. 4. 1968 "...yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace..." His dream liberated Birmingham from itself and began a . . . — — Map (db m73007) HM
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth invited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Birmingham in 1962. Shuttlesworth saw potential in the young minister, and their combined efforts were instrumental in Birmingham's desegregation. The campaign catapulted King into the . . . — — Map (db m73031) HM
Dedicated to
Dr. Ruth J. Jackson
1898-1982
This woman of strength and vision graduated from the Poro School of Cosmetology, the first black registered school in the State of Alabama. At the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement, she was . . . — — Map (db m27090) HM
Built 1917, 1701 4th Ave. N.
From 1900 to 1960, the Fourth Avenue area west of 18th Street in
downtown Birmingham was the business, social and cultural center
of the city's African-American community. Every major historical
and cultural . . . — — Map (db m188039) HM
The Duncan House was build in 1906 as a home place for James and Lelia Duncan and their eight children in what is now Tarrant City, Alabama. Duncan worked throughout his life in the nearby shops and yards of the L&N Railroad (know CSXI) as water . . . — — Map (db m86613) HM
Marker Front:
Founded in 1886 on 600 acres of land, East Birmingham was the agricultural area consisting primarily of dairy farms extending to the present Birmingham airport. The East Birmingham Land Company that developed the area was . . . — — Map (db m83827) HM
The Creek Indian Cession of 1814 opened this section of Alabama to settlement. At the time of statehood in 1819 many pioneer families had located here in what later became known as Jones Valley. By 1820 the area was called Ruhama Valley as a result . . . — — Map (db m26680) HM
East Lake was planned in 1886 by the East Lake Land Company to help sell home sites to the men who came in the 1870's to work in Birmingham's steel industry. First named Lake Como, after the lake in the Italian Alps, it soon came to be called East . . . — — Map (db m83828) HM
Eddie James Kendrick, nicknamed "cornbread", was born the eldest of five children to Johnny and Lee Bell Kendrick in Union Springs, Alabama.
After attending Western-Olin High School in Ensley, Alabama, Eddie was persuaded by his childhood . . . — — Map (db m26724) HM
Built 1999, SW corner of 4th Ave. N. & 18th St. N.
Urban Impact worked with artist Ronald McDowell who wanted
to create a public park along Fourth Avenue to honor Eddie
Kendricks, Birmingham native and a lead singer of the
legendary Motown . . . — — Map (db m188036) HM
Black leaders debated how best to educate their children to live in a racially segregated society. Former slave Booker T. Washington, founder
of Tuskegee Institute, was America's leading Black spokesman at the
turn of the 20th century and promoted . . . — — Map (db m187636) HM
Emory Overton Jackson was born on September 8, 1908 in Buena Vista, Georgia to Will Burt and Lovie Jones Jackson. E. O. Jackson and his seven siblings were raised in the middle-class Birmingham enclave of Enon Ridge, located on the west side of town . . . — — Map (db m64736) HM
Constant mistreatment by a brutal police force, a racist state government
and a White community that was either hostile or unconcerned pushed
many Blacks in Birmingham to the breaking point. Many were stuck in
low-paying, low-level jobs. Most . . . — — Map (db m187785) HM
Built 1928, 1717 4th Ave. N.
During the entertainment boom of the 1920s, The Famous, an
African-American movie theater, joined the Frolic, Lincoln,
Champion, Dixie and Savoy Theaters as places of entertainment
for African-Americans who . . . — — Map (db m188038) HM
In November 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregated buses
in Montgomery, handing the bus boycott and the growing Civil Rights
Movement a major victory. As a result, Rev. Shuttlesworth led the
ACMHR to target Birmingham's segregated . . . — — Map (db m189098) HM
September 1963
The increasing number of new African American
families moving onto Dynamite Hill required the
building of a new school. The city's segregation
laws prevented their children from attending
all-White Graymont Elementary, even . . . — — Map (db m189184) HM
This neighborhood developed in the 1880s as one of Birmingham's first streetcar suburbs. It was the Town of Highlands from 1887 to 1893, when it became part of the City of Birmingham. The heart of the neighborhood was Five Points Circle, a major . . . — — Map (db m83829) HM
This sculpture is dedicated to the Foot Soldiers of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement.
With gallantry, courage and great bravery they faced the violence of attack dogs, high powered water hoses, and bombings. They were the fodder in the . . . — — Map (db m27394) HM
When notoriously racist police commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor sicced dogs on the "Foot Soldiers" of the movement, civil rights leaders hoped it would shine a national spotlight on their plight, but the country at large remained woefully ignorant. . . . — — Map (db m73398) HM
A residential district extending from the crest of Red Mountain to the floor of Jones Valley with roads built along natural land contours. Birmingham real estate promoter and civic leader, Robert Jemison, Jr., began development as Mountain Terrace . . . — — Map (db m26983) HM
Built 1939, 1901 3rd Ave. N.
The F. W. Woolworth department store was one of the first sites targeted for the ACMHR and SCLC's economic boycotts and lunch counter sit-ins of “Project C” during the April - May 1963 mass demonstrations in . . . — — Map (db m188183) HM
Originally Sloss Furnaces had 120 beehive coke ovens on site,
each twelve feet in diameter. (similar to photo)
They were called 'beehive' as they had domed ceilings,
were built close together to maximize the benefits
of their collective heat, . . . — — Map (db m173373) HM
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