Birmingham may soon have an 18 acre natural preserve near Tip Top Grill in Bluff Park, thanks largely to Larry Rodick, President of Friends of Shade Mountain, who has been spearheading the effort. Birmingham City Council has approved an agreement to work with Hoover and the non-profit organization to protect this historic and scenic site. Plans include gaining permission to create trails from the top of the bluff through the valley and all the way to Shades Creek. Read more about Bluff Park’s history HERE and HERE.
Left to right: Marjorie White: Birmingham Historical Society Director, Larry Rodick: President of Friends of Shade Mountain, and preservation advocates Peggy Cornett, and Tabitha Lacy at the April 14th COB Council Meeting.
Are you a hiker? Do you enjoy nature trails? Are you interested in history? If so, there is lots to explore on Birmingham’s historic hiking trails as posted by AllTrails and available right on your smartphone.
The app provides driving directions, maps, points of interest, photos, and even plant identification with estimated times, length of trails, elevation changes, and difficulty. Abandoned mines and railroad tracks, along with associated structures, tell the story of Birmingham’s early industrial heritage. The topography and natural environment offer clues into why the area developed as it has.
Red Mountain, Full Loop by Randi BechtelIrondale Furnace Trail by Brian Cash
Want more? Check out the numerous Birmingham Historical Society publications that go into depth about Birmingham’s industrial history including:
Sunday afternoon, the Birmingham Historical Society hosted a going away reception for a much appreciated member and BHS Trustee who is moving to Tampa, Florida; Birgit Kibelka. A gifted landscape architect, Birgit was responsible for a massive amount of work for BHS as well as for the community which was displayed throughout the BHS offices.
Birgit researched and documented historic sites with BHS during 14 years from 2010 until 2024. Together with BHS Director Marjorie White, they explored, mapped and documented early residential developments, parks, trails, culverts, railroad cuts and creeks.
During the reception, Marjorie White acknowledged Birgit’s dedication and highlighted her impressive contributions to the Society. Birgit then spoke, sharing her insights and passion for the historical value of traditional paper maps, and explaining their importance in today’s time of continually updated online maps. She explained that maps are important for historic documentation in that historic sites are otherwise not found. She later provided the example below of Brock’s Gap.
The history of the gap is well described in the 1992 book “A History of Hoover, Alabama and Its People” by Marilyn Davis Barefield. Nevertheless, the historic marker was located facing the second railroad cut and not the original one and no one – except for Sam Curren – knew where the site was. A map would have prevented such a general loss of knowledge.
Good luck, Birgit, in your new home. You will be greatly missed!
cookies by BHS President Wayne Hester’s daughter, Georgeann@baked.by.georgiePhotos by Louise McPhillips and Rebecca Moody
Want some input into the future of Hoover’s Greenways and Blueways? Do you love Lover’s Leap and Tip Top Grill? The town hall meetings are THIS WEEK! See schedule below and read the article in the Hoover Sun:
Monday, May 8: Shades Crest Baptist Church
Tuesday, May 9: Spain Park High School Library
Thursday, May 11: Finley Center at Hoover Metropolitan Complex
Tuesday, May 16: Virtual town hall meeting at futurehoover.com
Each meeting will be from 5 to 7 p.m. The in-person meetings will be set up as a walk-through interactive exhibit, with displays giving information about the various parts of the plan and opportunities to provide feedback on the displays.
Representatives from the city will be on site as well to answer questions, talk about the plan and have conversations with people about what they would like to see regarding the focus topics, said Mindy Wyatt, a strategic analyst for the city who is serving as the project manager for the plan.
Friends of Shades Mountain (FOSM), working with the Hoover Historical Society, are promoting the creation of a Bluff Park Preserve on Shades Mountain.
Hoover is seeking the public’s input on a long-term plan for parks, public spaces, greenways, trails, and blue ways. Lots of plans are being explored including the one prepared by the Birmingham Historical Society’s Marjorie White and Birgit Kibelka along the historic Ross Bridge property (see below). Officials are considering 32 public places, and 20 miles of frontage on the Cahaba River.
Make your voice be heard! Improve your community by participating in this online survey and attending the May meetings.
Friends of Shades Mountain are sponsoring a Benefit Concert at Wild Roast Cafe in Bluff Park, featuring great live folk, mountain, and classical guitar music, as well as original songs by the President of the Birmingham Music Club
Sunday, September 11th, 6:00PM
Click image to download & print pdf invitation
The Birmingham Historical Society continues to research the historic importance of Shades Mountain and Shades Creek to our community with recent attention focused on Brock’s Gap, and the publication of Shades Creek–Flowing Through Time. But the Friends of Shades Mountain also want to preserve it for the benefits it provides all of us NOW including:
The forest protects homeowners below from erosion, mudslides and damaging storm water runoff.
It helps keep the water and air in the county clean.
By providing visual screening, the forest enhances property values in the valley below and the ridge above the mountain.
It provides habitat for many plant and animal species, some rarely seen in other parts of the county and state.
It is an aesthetic value in itself, providing a lush green landscape that cools the eye of everyone coming around, over and under its forest canopy.
It helps protect Shades Creek, already imperiled by previous development.
The forests along this mountain help to keep homes cooler by reducing the effects of hot, humid summer days. In the winter, the forest provides wind brakes that cut heating costs.
The forest cover saves the county an estimated $1,500,000 per year by reducing air pollution and storm water runoff.
You can HELP by buying tickets or donating if you can’t attend.
It’s rewarding when the efforts of Birmingham Historical Society trustees to preserve a first-class historical site are not only recognized, but seriously considered by city leaders and developers in urban planning. Thanks to the research and site visits of BHS Director Marjorie White, and BHS Trustee and Hoover resident Birgit Kilbeka, plans for a 4 mile parkway that could potentially destroy the landmark Brock’s Gap are now being debated. This article in The Hoover Sun by Jon Anderson highlights the importance of what is being proposed.
Thank you to Birmingham Historical Society Trustees for bringing historical sites to the attention of developers. And thank you to developers and city planners for listening and responding to these concerns!
On our second visit to Brock’s Gap we were a group of mostly Hoover residents with different backgrounds: Jim Langley and Deborah Burtnet along with Edna McWilliams and Gene Fuller, of the Hoover Historical Society; Brian Hale, Community Relations Officer with the Hoover PD; Carolyn Buck, Trail System Director with the Freshwater Land Trust, our friendly chaperone Thomas Abbey of the Brock’s Gap Training Center and myself (BHS).
We met at the entrance gate to the Brock’s Gap Training Center at South Shades Crest Road where Jim gave an overview of the history of Brock’s Gap followed by Birgit’s introduction of the map and of the walk ahead. As we walked we took a look at the 1907 Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad cut before stepping into the woods for a peek at the epic original 1871 railroad cut that led to the founding of the city of Birmingham. The large heaps of rock that line the rim of the cut impressively illustrate the magnitude of the work with the limited tools available at the time.
At the point where the cut and the current driveway meet we stopped to take in the ascent of the railbed from the south into the crest of Shades Mountain. We continued on into the wide views of the woods atop the tall fill that takes the historic railbed through the valley toward the steep towering slope of Pine Mountain. The newer, taller 1907 railroad track stays within view to the right as a constant reminder of the progress that followed the initial struggle to access the mountainous mineral regions of Alabama.
The railbed then led us through the two cuts in Pine Mountain that time and again are awe inspiring. The rock layers rise at an angle and show drill marks in some spots. A drill bit that got lodged and broke off 150 years ago can be seen and invites to share Jim Hahn’s story of the wrought iron rings attached to the rock, used to tie up convict laborers during construction of the railroad. As we reached the stark slope in the driveway we talked about the 924′ long dry trestle that used to span the valley between Pine Mountain and Chestnut Ridge atop the 30′ tall embankment.
At this spot the difficulty of getting the railroad up the mountain was finally evident to everyone. We had seen and walked deep cuts, and tall fills and were now faced with a third method of building the railbed at the needed 1.25% grade. Walking down the slope to the long lower fill we took in the full extent of the former trestle. Once we reached the lower fill, the view into the valley and onto the shooting range was wide open.
Established in 1962, the Brock’s Gap training center is the reason why the historic railbed was preserved during the development of the surrounding areas into residential neighborhoods. As the training center prepares to move on, this view into the valley also represents the wide view into the future of west Hoover with its planned parkway and development corridor.
While we headed toward Chestnut Ridge the other active CSX line drew close on the left. Historic railbed and active railroad run parallel as they cut through Chestnut Ridge. We emerged from this last cut and found ourselves at the western end of Stadium Trace Parkway, high up on the southern slope of Chestnut Ridge. Toward the south the terrain drops toward the Cahaba River. To the left lies the new Black Creek Mountain Bike Park that would make a great anchor for a Brock’s Gap Greenway. A closer look from the opposite side of the street revealed that the original railbed continues south until it meets the active rail line. Could a greenway extend in this direction to reach the planned Cahaba Park?
Monorails, subterranean boat tours, historic cycloramas and murals under Vulcan Park and The Club never materialized, but were suggested when The Club first opened in 1951. Inspired by the fantasy of California’s recently opened Disneyland, The Club management and the Chamber of Commerce did a series of promotional watercolors now in the collection of Birmingham Historical Society.
Read more about the history of “The Cut” in Birmingham Historical Society’s latest newsletter HERE. Want more? Join us!
The 2020 annual meeting focused on a portion of Shades Valley originally developed for the South & North Alabama Railroad which is now in the Ross Bridge community. A beautifully designed stone culvert, c. 1864, which bridged Shades Creek is all that remains of the original railroad causeway designed to bring iron ore from the Oxmoor Furnaces to Confederate arsenals.
A project of one of Birmingham’s important pioneers, John T. Milner, his railroad led to the founding of Birmingham in December of 1871. Several descendants of Milner’s attended the meeting along with an audience of over a hundred. The history of the area was presented by BHS Director, Marjorie White, and the construction of the bridge was illustrated and discussed by Birgit Kibelka.
The meeting began with a presentation of the strategic plan for BHS by Joe Limbaugh, and was followed by a ‘taste testing’ of eighteen cakes and pies based on a memorable family recipe, organized by Carolanne Roberts. Each entry was accompanied by a family history or story, and many had been baked annually for special occasions or presented as gifts for years!
