Do you remember some old fashioned favorites like angel food cake, pineapple upside down cake, icebox cake, or chocolate mayonnaise cake? Do they bring back memories of baking or sharing with family members? Do you have other baking memories of 50~plus years ago? Then please enter your cake in this annual contest! Judging will be at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens Auditorium between 3:30 and 4:00PM on Monday, February 23rd, 2026 . A tasting and announcement of the winners will follow the annual meeting at 7:00PM during which the latest publication, BIRMINGHAMby theBOOK, will be introduced.
So search those recipe boxes! We can’t wait to see what you create along with its memorable story!
This past weekend, neighborhood Highland Park residents, Annie Leardine and Elizabeth Sanfelippo as community liaisons and co-chairs, assembled various property owners willing to share their houses, and garnered the support of local realtors as sponsors. Along with Friends of Highland Park – the neighborhood 501c3, the group successfully created a walking tour and porch visits entitled “It’s Nice to have you in Highland Park“.
Don’t miss the two videos below by Jacob delaRosa! Click on images for links
Video produced by Jacob delaRosa. Check out more of his work at www.jacobdelarosa.com or reach out about collaborations or inquiries at jacob.delarosa.letschat@gmail.comListen to neighborhood advocates talk of their appreciation for Highland Park. Video produced by Jacob delaRosa.
Historical costumes from the period were encouraged and one of the event sponsors, Priscilla LeBerte and her husband Adam, were among those wearing period clothing. In the photos below, Elizabeth is wearing a costume originally made for Mrs. George Ward, but is representing Florence Jordan – the widow of Mortimer Jordan, who built the Jordan house after his death. This 2nd annual event with live music and refreshments highlighted the warmth and charm of this historic neighborhood while inviting guests to explore its architectural treasures.
BHS Director Marjorie WhiteStanding in front of the Mortimer Jordan House on Highland AvenueBHS President Wayne Hester withTrustee Linda NelsonOn the right is Elizabeth Sanfelippo as Mrs. Mortimer Jordan, the builder of the Jordan houseHeritage Hunt participantsPriscilla (one of event sponsors) & Adam LeBerte stand next to event co-chair, Elizabeth SanfelippoTrustees Barbara Shores and Dan Weathers with refreshments at BHS officesBHS Trustees Katie Tipton, Gerry Waters, and VP Carol SlaughterAll photos courtesy of Jacob delaRosa, http://www.jacobdelarosa.com
Developer Bob McKenna generously opened his doors to showcase the restoration work currently in progress at the historic Warner House, one of the soon to be restored “Three Sisters“. Additionally, tours were offered at the celebrated Brown House, known today as the Clubhouse on Highland, providing insight into the neighborhood’s rich heritage and architectural diversity.
The event saw an impressive turnout, with approximately 350 participants. Sixty-six individuals and groups enthusiastically completed their scavenger hunt known as Highland Heritage Hunts. Each of these participants was rewarded for their efforts with a copy of Birmingham Homes: A Guide to Architectural Styles, which serves as a resource for those interested in the historical and architectural significance of the houses in the area.
The success of this event would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of its organizers, as well as the enthusiastic participation of all those who turned out. Many thanks to everyone involved for making this such a memorable occasion!
Co-chair Annie Chester Leardine and her familyAn exhibit of architectural styles was displayed at BHS offices (behind Joseph Bostany and Sheila Chaffin)Birmingham Homes: A Guide to Architectural Styles was the scavenger hunt prize, displayed hereExhibition of houses in Highland Park as they looked at the turn of the century was displayed at BHS offices on Highland AvenueAll photos by Jacob delaRosa
Are you familiar with the three homes built around 1905 on Highland Avenue that once belonged to three sisters? While one has been fully restored, two of them have been abandoned for many years. But the good news is that the restoration of the other two will soon follow! Even better, the neighborhood will have some involvement. Take a look at these videos! And follow the progress on Facebook using this hashtag: #sisterhouserenovation.
Birmingham Historical Society is often asked if we’d like old family photos, artifacts, or local memorabilia. As much as we would like to archive and even permanently exhibit these historic collections, we do not currently have the space or resources to adequately catalog and preserve them. While we appreciate their importance, we are primarily a research and educational organization. Rather, we encourage individuals to consider donating their items to larger institutions that have the capability to properly care for and display such collections.
There are two places that we recommend: The Southern History Department at the Birmingham Public Library focuses on items regarding Birmingham and Jefferson County. Open to the public by appointment only, the downtown location also maintains a digital library available on demand.
City directories, local newspapers on microfilm, and state and local histories are the Southern History Department’s most used items. Research class projects, books and articles, and the histories of local houses and buildings are also popular searches.
The Alabama Department of Archives and History In Montgomery is about all things Alabama. “Founded in 1901, the Alabama Department of Archives & History is the state’s government-records repository, a special-collections library and research facility, and home to the self-guided Museum of Alabama, the state history museum.” Their vast digital collection features genealogy and family histories, maps & architectural drawings, photos, video, posters and much more.
The Alabama State Museum, as part of the Department of Archives and History, was first housed in the State Capitol. Thanks to the efforts of Thomas & Marie Owen, the current Archives and History building was opened in 1940 and the final wing was completed in 2005. Visit the beautiful building virtually HERE or plan a visit to Montgomery. To donate a personal collection to the state archives, please submit a donation form HERE, or if you have a very specific item, consider one of these history museums.
And thank you for your interest in donating historic materials!
President and longtime Trustee and Honorary Trustee of Birmingham Historical Society, among his many other leadership roles, Sam Frazier died May 12th and was honored May 31 with a service at Grace Episcopal Church and a reception at The Club.
President and longtime Trustee and Honorary Trustee of Birmingham Historical Society, among his many other leadership roles, Sam Frazier died May 12th and was honored May 31 with a service at Grace Episcopal Church and a reception at The Club.
Sam Frazier, then a young attorney with a specialty in tax law and a passion for preservation of country estates, came to Birmingham in the early 1970s. Over the next 50 years, his corporate practice and civic service would include municipal law, public finance, real estate, counsel to four mayors, and innovative strategies for financing and preserving Birmingham’s special places and neighborhoods. Sam played key roles in both private and City and state preservation as components of a broader urban planning strategy.
Upon buying a home in Forest Park, he led the charge for researching the neighborhood’s history and nominating it for federal recognition. In 1980, Forest Park became the first Birmingham neighborhood to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places (the nation’s list of properties worthy of preservation), thereby thwarting a planned US highway that would have obliterated the neighborhood. The next year, Birmingham Historical Society joined in dedicating an historical marker to commemorate this preservation victory. Continuing to lead neighborhood revitalization over several decades, Sam served as the South Avondale-Forest Park neighborhood president and chaired its design review committee to maintain the historic fabric of its early 20th century homes. Forest Park was the first neighborhood to become a Local Historic District and institute the design review process.
Closed in 1972, Sloss Furnaces reopened following initial preservation in 1983 with Sam Frazier as president of the City of Birmingham Board and a dynamic director whom Frazier had recruited to set the vision for the open-air museum (then the only industrial site under preservation in the world). Sam was also President of Birmingham Historical Society and in 1985 recruited the Society to move to the site and move and restore an historic house there. He drafted the many contracts between Sloss, the City, and the Society and located and supervised the craftsmen to make possible our home for the next 37 years.
Also in 1985, Frazier spearheaded the renovation of the pigeon-infested and deteriorated Peter Zinszer’s Mammoth Furniture Store. Recasting cast-iron columns and capitals, the heavily corroded and sign covered storefront was restored and its interior rebuilt. Frazier’s law firm, Spain Gillion, took up residence on Second Avenue North. Participants in Society’s Downtown Discovery Tour enjoyed a special welcome in the Zinszer Building atrium. Many Society committees met in the second floor conference room. The Society’s initial Endowment policy was drafted here.
In the 1980s, the City of Birmingham instituted new commercial revitalization programs, offering rebates for façade fix-ups. In 1987, The City instituted design review to ensure appropriate treatment and protect the character and historic significance of these and other designated areas. Sam Frazier drafted the ordinance creating the City’s Design Review program and for the next 40 years served as chairman of the Design Review Committee that oversaw work in downtown and Five Points South. Both historic renovations and new construction came before the committee. Frazier’s understanding of the urban fabric, memory, and command were legendary. And he had no qualms in eloquently expressing his opinion, even to the internationally admired architect I. M. Pei who appeared with early designs for the Kirklin Clinic before the committee.
Sam continued to advocate for city and state tax incentives to equalize investment opportunities in historic properties with those that had long favored new construction. In the 1990s, he pioneered the use of façade easements (that preserve historic structures by restricting changes to the exteriors or facades of the buildings) to help provide favorable incentives to renovate large residential and commercial projects. The easements are legally binding and enforced by the agency holding the easement. Thanks to Sam, Birmingham Historical Society received 11 easements and gifts of funds to monitor the conservation of these properties in perpetuity. Funds received formed the initial corpus of the Society’s endowment.
Also in the 1990s, Sam led the five-year long Mayor’s Committee for the Preservation of Vulcan whose members were Society Trustees. With the 120,000 ton cast-iron statue disintegrating and the Mayor and business community reluctant to commit funds, the committee explored methods to fix and pay for the project. The committee brought the conservator of large statues for the National Park Service in Washington came to appraise the situation, worked with Robinson Iron (the firm that had recast the iron on the Zinszer Building who with the conservator would later lead the dismantling, conservation, and reassembly of the statute), created the framework for public-private management of the site (that became today’s Vulcan Park Foundation that operates the site for the City), and pioneered the highly successful offering of educational opportunities at the park and along the mineral railroad during the Olympic summer of 1996. When the committee disbanded, the Society continued the public relations campaign to save the City’s symbol.
Sam also provided leadership to St. Andrews Episcopal Church on Southside and to Grace Episcopal Church in Woodlawn.
While stationed with the army in England following his college years, this Southern gentleman from Decatur, Alabama, learned of the Irish Georgian Society, Ireland’s agency for promoting and protecting this nation’s heritage, historic gardens, and decorative arts. Carol McCroarty, his future wife, was working for the Society. These Irish associations nurtured his passion for preserving Birmingham heritage.
Sam loved to collect, preferably antiques of Georgian provenance. He also loved to entertain and was the consummate host at his homes in Forest Park and later at “Woodside,” his home in Belle Mina, Alabama. In his living rooms, a silver galley tray remained set with Irish crystal and Irish whiskeys, a ready welcome for family and friends. True leaders serve others, and Sam was ever ready to serve not only at home, but in his community. And he did.
~ Marjorie White, Director, Birmingham Historical Society
As we remember the courageous veterans who served our country, graveside flowers have become one important token of our respect and gratitude. Beginning on May 30, 1868, the first flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Soon, Memorial Day also became known as Decoration Day as Americans began the tradition of gathering every May to tend to the grave sites and honor those who died serving the country during the Civil War.
After World War I, the tradition evolved to commemorate ALL those who died in wars. Poppies in particular became a symbol of respect, gratitude, and remembrance, with the vibrant red color representing the blood that was shed.
If you grew up in the South, or have family members buried in the South, you may have attended Decoration Day. May has become a month for not only commemorating our veterans and their families, but also for remembering our own family members who have died. By gathering and placing flowers at grave sites, telling stories, and making photographs, memories are preserved in order to be passed on to the youngest family members.
The safekeeping of many of these older cemeteries has become increasingly important as landscape development converts old farms and homesteads. The Alabama Historical Commission encourages documentation of these sites, and has created the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register, the only official listing of historic cemeteries. Many of these cemeteries have no official owners or caretakers. So it has become the responsibility of family members and volunteers to record and maintain these sacred places.
Today is a day of Remembrance, of those who served, and of those we’ve loved. Let’s not forget them.
The highly anticipated annual event for the 2025 Heritage Society Gathering was at the residence built for Herbert Clark and Virginia Stockham in 1924 by Miller & Martin Architects. Atop Red Mountain on Argyle Road, the Tudor-styled home was called ‘Cragmoor’ in reference to the stone cottages and mists of the English Lake Country.
Herbert’s father, William Stockham, purchased the ‘Cragmoor’-lot 24 of Milner Heights-in 1919 and gave it to his oldest son Herbert Clark several years later. Herbert then immediately married Virginia Cannon, and began construction on the home (2930 Argyle Road) where he raised his children, Virginia Lee and Herbert Cannon, for the next 30 years.
A greatly-respected business industrialist, Herbert Clark Stockham proceeded to lead Stockham Pipe founded by his father in 1903 to national and international success. Herbert Clark Stockham died in 1958, and his wife Virginia in 1964, and the home was purchased by Martha & Marion Brodnax.
Improvements to the front entrance, kitchen, porch area, and garage were added in 1984 by new homeowners Virginia & Richard Scruggs, who sold it to Doug Click and Gregg MCormick in 2023, our generous hosts for this event. They recently added a pool/activity area and are landscaping the forested ridge.
Our Heritage Society Hosts: Doug Click, Gregg McCormick, and Virginia Scruggs
Party Planners; Virginia Markstein, Jay Draper, Mark Thompson
In the meantime, Herbert Clark’s father, William, had purchased another 200 acres on Red Mountain’s crest and southern slope in 1922 for $250,000, the city’s largest real estate transaction at the time. William Stockham subdivided 50 acres at the crest for his 10-acre personal residence at 2950 Argyle Road, and set aside lots for his two younger sons, Douglass and Richard. His two younger sons never built on their property and sold it in the mid-1950’s.
Herbert Clark’s son, Herbert Cannon Stockham, married Peggy Roundtree in 1954 and built a home on portions of Lot 24 adjacent to his parent’s home at 2940 Argyle Road This home remained in the Stockham family until 2021. Read the complete history here.
So very proud of Birmingham Historical Society Trustee Barbara Shores who continues to share the story of her life on Dynamite Hill. As the daughter of civil rights activist Arthur Shores, she has preserved her family’s involvement in Birmingham’s civil right’s history in the book, “Birmingham’s Dynamite Hill”, and in the videos below.
During this Black History Month, we encourage reflection on the acts of violence that necessitated struggles against racial barriers in the pursuit of a more equitable Birmingham.
Alabama Public Television Presents is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Birmingham Historical Society is excited to be assembling a vibrant photographic collection of all of the historic homes that were constructed along Highland Avenue South. Director Marjorie White highlights the neighborhood’s significance to Birmingham’s rich history in the attached CBS 42 video. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year as we celebrate another year in our historic Highland Avenue neighborhood!
Did you know we have a namesake in the United Kingdom, also known as the UK’s second city? It was established by Lord Mayor Peter de Birmingham, who was allowed to hold the first market on his property by King Henry II in 1166. By 1538, in Birmingham, England, there were 1,500 people in 200 houses selling goods, and the town was developing a reputation as a metalworking center. It’s now famous for being the first manufacturing town in the world with a population of 2.5 million.
Hundreds of years later, in 1871, Birmingham, Alabama, was chartered. As it had vast deposits of iron ore and coal, founders envisioned an industrial future similar to Birmingham, England, so the name Birmingham was proposed.
A recent example was an offer of this impressive inherited collection of special editions of the Birmingham Mail newspaper. Anyone from Birmingham, England interested? Let us know and we’ll put you in touch!
