Category Archives: Neighborhoods

Architecture, Birmingham Historical Society, Highland Avenue, Historic Preservation, Neighborhoods, Research, Southside, The Altamont

New Year’s Eve Party December 31, 1930

Birmingham Historical Society’s offices are in the historic Altamont Apartments and ninety-four years ago, there was a New Year’s Party in the ‘ballroom’. Some of the columns in our offices evoke an elegance that suggest a ballroom might have been in our location.

.

Perhaps it was a party to create interest in the recently constructed 1924 building. Or since it was sold around this time, maybe the new owner had grandiose plans prior to the Great Depression. Rumor has it that portions of a ballroom are still there but not in use off the main lobby to the south. Our curiosity is piqued! If anyone has any additional information about the location of the ballroom, we’d love to know and will update! Happy New Year!

A Guide to Architectural Styles, Altamont, Architecture, Birmingham Historical Society, BOOK, Book Sale, Exhibition, Highland Avenue, Neighborhoods, Publications, The Altamont

Thanks for coming!

Lots of interest in our Highland Park neighborhood, at an event in which Birmingham Historical Society displayed photographs of nearly all the original homes constructed along Highland Avenue (many courtesy of historian and neighbor Randy Merritt). Our Open House included not only our extensive exhibit, but also tours of the offices of our new neighbor, Alabama Audubon, The Greenbriar lobby in the historic Altamont building, and the front porches of several neighboring historic homes. The tour ended with music at Rojo.

Photos by Katie Tipton

Note that the BHS book, A Guide to Architectural Styles, provides context and recognition tips as to the style of many of the homes in Southside. And our latest book, a reprint of the 1962 book published by The Birmingham News, It’s Nice to Live in Birmingham, is now available for $20 via link above and will not be sold on Amazon.

Thank you to all who attended and we hope to see you again soon!

Photos by Louise McPhillips
A Guide to Architectural Styles, Birmingham Historical Society, Birmingham Landmarks, BOOK, Exhibition, Highland Avenue, Historic Preservation, Housing, Neighborhoods, Open house, Publications, Southside

Experience Historic Highland Park

We’re having an OPEN HOUSE Sunday, October 13th 3-5, celebrating our new/old reprint from the Birmingham News 1963 publication, “It’s Nice to Live in Birmingham”. Come join us, see an extensive exhibit of historic Highland Park homes in our offices, and visit our new neighbor, Alabama Audubon. Step inside the historic grand lobby and courtyard of The Greenbriar at Altamont, visit with neighbors on the front porches of several historic homes, and end the afternoon at Rojo with live music. 1920’s attire is welcomed!

More information on our Facebook Page

Our Highland Park Neighborhood Invitation

Architecture, Birmingham Historical Society, Birmingham Landmarks, Birmingham pioneers, City of Birmingham, Highland Avenue, Historic Preservation, Housing, Neighborhoods, Research, Southside

Our Highland Avenue Neighborhood

The Birmingham Historical Society relocated their offices in November of 2022 to a 1924 apartment building in the historic Southside neighborhood, following 37 years at Sloss Quarters. Extensive research into the history of the new location has been a delight and has acquainted the Society with Highland Avenue’s dedicated historian, Randy Merritt. He has amassed a wealth of information and postcards of the area over the years and is situated nearby in the impressive Mortimer Jordan house. It is thanks to his efforts that the Society’s offices are adorned with images and histories of every home ever constructed on Highland Avenue, along with documentation of the original homes that still stand today.

“Historic Highland Avenue: Exploring an Iconic Street” is a featured article in Birmingham Lifestyle’s July 2024 issue, which includes these images and postcards, as well as the addresses of the remaining homes. Strolling along the street offers a journey through Birmingham’s architectural history and serves as a poignant reminder of those who made significant contributions to the city’s beginnings. For further reading on Highland Avenue, its parks, and the Southside area, additional posts can be found here.

(Note: Clicking on cover image will open entire digital magazine issue, best opened on large screen. Other images can be enlarged “as is” on smaller screens.)

See Page 40 for article on Highland Avenue
Birmingham Historical Society, Historic Preservation, Meetings, Neighborhoods, Parks & Recreation, Shades Crest Road, shades mountain

Permanently Preserving Hale Springs

Thanks to the efforts of conservation group Friends of Shades Mountain with support from the Birmingham Historical Society, Hale Springs is now part of the Bluff Park Preserve and is included in the City of Hoover’s Park Plan! This beautiful 18 acre property is the last open space on Shades Crest Mountain. However, it is currently for sale and in danger of development.

The next step is to include it in the Forever Wild Land Trust ensuring its permanent preservation for undeveloped public use. Friends of Shades Mountain have successfully nominated the property for consideration at a hearing on May 2nd at Jacksonville State University. Marjorie White, Director of the Birmingham Historical Society, has drafted the following document to make the case for its inclusion. Please consider attending the meeting or adding your support via a letter to the board members below of the Forever Wild Land Trust of Alabama or to the President of Friends of Shades Mountain.

Dr. James B. McClintock
Endowed Professor, Department of Biology
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Department of Biology
Campbell Hall 368
Birmingham, AL 35294

Mr. Jack Darnall
4007 Old Leeds Ridge
Birmingham, AL 35213

Mr. Jimmy Parnell
President, Alabama Farmers Federation
President and CEO, Alfa Insurance Companies
P.O.Box 11000
Montgomery, Alabama 36191

Dr. Brian R. Keener
The University of West Alabama
Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Station #7
Livingston, AL 35470

Friends of Shades Mountain

Larry Rodick, President
Friends of Shades Mountain
P. O. Box 59651
Birmingham, AL 35259
205-823-7367
friendsofshadesmountain@gmail.com

Not familiar with the Forever Wild Land Trust? This organization was established in 1992 and has secured more than 284,000 acres of land in Alabama for public use. The FWLT’s acquisitions have also created more than 363 miles of recreational trails within 23 new recreation areas and nature preserves, while providing additions to 9 State Parks and 20 Wildlife Management Areas.  Forever Wild has helped acquire lands for conservation at Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve, Tannehill State Historic Park, and the Cahaba River Park among others.

Q: How is land acquired by the Forever Wild Land Trust?

A: Individuals can nominate particular tracts of land for purchase; after a review process, the Forever Wild Land Trust Board of Trustees may then make an offer to buy that tract at the appraised fair market value.  For each tract the Board acquires, 15% of the appraised value is also deposited into the program’s stewardship account to cover future land management needs. Payment is NOT funded by taxpayers but rather is generated by interest earned from offshore natural gas royalties deposited into the Alabama Trust Fund.

Architecture, Birmingham Historical Society, Birmingham Landmarks, family history, Highland Avenue, Historic Preservation, Housing, Neighborhoods, Research, Southside

Why is the “Little Villa” worth saving?

UPDATE! Design Review tables decision to demolish the “Little Villa”

WBRC video with comments by BHS Director Marjorie White

A little history about the “Little Villa” scheduled for demolition on Highland Avenue. The demolition request comes before Birmingham City Council on February 28th. Please also see the petition and @BhamNow article.

Click to read more!

Birmingham Historical Society, Birmingham Landmarks, City of Birmingham, family history, Highland Avenue, Historic Preservation, Neighborhoods, Southside

Petition for Historic Highland Park home


This historic home in Highland Park on Highland Avenue near Rojo is scheduled to soon be demolished to make way for more apartments. A public hearing on the issue has been postponed until January 10. Please help show your support for saving this historic home by signing this petition.

Please read and sign this petition if you’d like your voice to be included. Thank you @bhamnow for bringing this to the attention of the neighborhood! 

Birmingham Historical Society, Birmingham pioneers, BOOK, Book Sale, Book Signing, Coal Mines, family history, Genealogy, Historic Preservation, Neighborhoods, Publications, Research

Before Quinlan Castle

Historic Quinlan Castle was demolished earlier this year to make way for a new Southern Research building. But prior to Quinlan Castle, this was the location of the Roberts’ home, parents to author Anne Roberts Gayler of One Hundred Years, a memoir released by Birmingham Historical Society in September 2023.

Prominent early residents of Birmingham, David Roberts and his bride, Belle Sumter Yates Roberts, moved their family from Charleston first to Bessemer and then to Birmingham in 1894. Roberts had successfully raised capital for the formation of DeBardeleben Coal & Iron Company and took an ownership role in the new firm that was formed in 1886. At the time of his death in 1909, he was associated as a director of several banks and leading industrial and commercial interests in Birmingham. He was 63, his widow, 48, his daughter and the author of this book, only 27 years old.

They later moved to Altamont Road and the author states, “I went to Birmingham for (my sister’s) wedding, a home affair, in Mother’s great house. There was only one difficulty. The minister had some trouble getting to the house on the Altamont, for the automobiles of that era lacked edurance.”

The story of this remarkable Birmingham family as written by Anne Roberts Gayler at the age of 100, is available October 1st, 2023, 4:00PM at a Publication Celebration, 2827 Highland Avenue. The public is invited! Now available on Amazon HERE

Exhibition, Historic Preservation, Hoover, lecture, Neighborhoods, Parks & Recreation, Shades Crest Road, shades mountain, Vestavia

Do you know the history of Bluff Park?

The popularity of beautiful Bluff Park was definitely affirmed at the extremely well-attended presentation by Birmingham Historical Society Director Marjorie White and landscape architect & BHS Trustee Birgit Kibelka on September 19 entitled Bluff Park: Then & Now, hosted by the Hoover Historical Society. Hoover had a series of town halls this past spring to determine the community’s interest in greenways, trails, parks, and public spaces. As a follow-up to those town halls, this event delved further into the history and possibilities of a Bluff Park Preserve with maps, photos of rock formations and existing springs, views, and historical correspondence.

Proposed Preserve

Friends of Shades Mountain (FOSM), working with the Hoover Historical Society, and Birmingham Historical Society are promoting the creation of the Bluff Park Preserve on Shades Mountain. As the City of Hoover explores possibilities for future parks and preserves, the opportunity to save the last remaining publicly accessible viewpoint along Shades Mountain presents itself. The proposed future Bluff Park Preserve might include the original “Bluff Park,” Lover’s Leap-Sunset Rock, and the site of Tip-Top Grill. Please read this BHS newsletter for additional information.

Birmingham Historical Society, BOOK, Farming, Gardening, Grandmothers Garden, Highland Avenue, Neighborhoods, Publications

For the Heirloom Gardeners

It’s been almost a year since Birmingham Historical Society moved from a free-standing shotgun house at Sloss Quarters with a period garden to a mid-rise residential building in the historic urban neighborhood of Southside. While we love the new space and especially our new neighbors, it’s no longer possible to keep Grandmother’s Garden. But we have preserved some of the best parts of that 15 year experience.

A popular medicinal herb book, Pretty Posies Powerful Healing – an Herbal Primer, featured watercolor illustrations of plants grown in what was called Grandmother’s Garden.

And the Facebook page is archived with photos and information gathered over the 15 year period by both master gardeners and volunteers. Both sources are a wealth of information for those interested in heirloom plants, organic herbs, fruits, and vegetables, as well as decorative period plants and the way in which they were historically used.

There are lots of reasons to rediscover heirloom plants including their disease resistance, flavor, pollination without pesticides, and even the memories that they evoke. Be sure to take a look at the links above and if you’d like to try this yourself, here are a few useful tips!