Questions & Answers

Historic districts in Birmingham metropolitan area

Historic districts & historic register

Is my property on a historic register?

Is my property in an historic district?

What restrictions are there on the use of my property?

Before buying an historic home

How to I get a historical marker?

What tax incentives are available for historic properties?

Do historic homes in Alabama get tax abatement?

The 2017 Alabama Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit (video) is a 25% refundable tax credit available for private homeowners and owners of commercial properties who substantially rehabilitate historic properties that are listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and are 60 years old or older. The tax credit provides jobs, increases the tax base, and revitalizes existing buildings and infrastructure, while preserving and rehabilitating Alabama’s historic properties.

How do I get my property listed on an historic register?

Where can I find historic photographs?

Where do I go to research my property?

Who offers tours of Birmingham?

Self Guided Tours using FREE downloadable materials (from Birmingham Historical Society
Guided Tours via Viator (A Trip Advisor Company)
Birmingham Historic Touring Company (The Birmingham Historic Touring Company (BHTC) is a boutique tour company devoted to strange, dark and unusual walking and intimate driving tours of Birmingham, Alabama and the surrounding area)

Where to donate papers, photos, & documents?

To whom can I donate papers and documents?

How do I research my genealogy?

The best resource for family history research is our local Department of Southern History at the Birmingham Public Library

How can I get help researching a family member?

Please click on image above for more information about recent publications

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Upcoming Events

2024 Events

February 3, 10-3 p.m., Black Genealogy Meeting and Book Sale, Birmingham Public Library
February 8, evening, Arthur Shores, release of the new film for Alabama Public Television, Dynamite Hill book sales at Carver Theater
February 26, Annual Meeting, Trustee Supper – Fruity Wonders Cake Competition, Birmingham Botanical Gardens: Ancient Life: Fossils and Ecosystems across Deep Time, with Bill Deutschmark, retired professor, Auburn University
March 17, Bill Holman, Talk & Book Signing for Order from Chaos, a History of the UAB Department of Surgery, 1856-2012 by Dr. Gill Diethelm

Trustee Meetings

February 26th, Annual Meeting of the Trustees at Birmingham Botanical Gardens at 5:30pm. Fruity Cake Competition begins after the lecture by Bill Deutschmark, retired professor of Auburn University, on Ancient Life: Fossils and ecosystems across Deep Time
March 12th at BHS offices at Noon for lunch
May 14th at BHS offices at Noon for lunch
September 10th at BHS offices at Noon for lunch
December 10th at BHS offices at Noon for lunch

Executive Committee Meetings (Officers only) at noon

January 16th
February 13th
April 9th
June 11th
July 9th
August 13th
October 8th
November 12th

2023 Events

September 19, 6:30 p.m., Bluff Park: Then & Now, hosted by the Hoover Historical Society at the Hoover Public Library, 200 Municipal Drive.
October 1, 4:00 p.m., 100 Years Publication Celebration, 2827 Highland Avenue.
October 3, Members’ Books to be mailed to those not receiving them at the reception. Please let us know if your book does not arrive.
October 29, 3:00 p.m. Christine Putman & Big Jim Folsom, Talk & Book Signing with Folsom’s grandson Jamie Putman, 2827 Highland Avenue.
December 3, 3:00 p.m. Magic City: How the Birmingham Jazz Tradition Shaped the Sound of America, Talk & Book Signing with Burgin Mathews

Trustee Meetings

February 27th, the Annual Meeting of the Trustees at Birmingham Botanical Gardens 5:30PM. Favorite Cake Competition begins at 4 PM on February 27th. This year’s cakes may be the favorite cake of your childhood! We encourage everyone to enter!
February 27, 2023, 7PM: The 81st Annual Meeting of the Birmingham Historical Society at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens (free and open to the public) featuring Kari Frederickson, professor of Southern History at the University of Alabama, speaking on The Bankheads of Alabama and autographing her recently published book Deep South Dynasty: The Bankheads of Alabama
March 7th at BHS offices, 2827 Highland Avenue at Noon for lunch
May 7th, 5:00PM Heritage Society Gathering at Northington-Murray House
May 9th at BHS offices, 2827 Highland Avenue at Noon for lunch
September 12 at BHS offices, 2827 Highland Avenue at Noon for lunch
December 12 at BHS offices, 2827 Highland Avenue at Noon for lunch

Executive Committee Meetings (Officers only)

January 10th at BHS offices, 2827 Highland Avenue at Noon for lunch
February 14
April 11
June 13
July 11
August 8
October 10
November 14

Finance Committee Meeting: TBA

Investment Committee Meeting at Porter White Steiner Building, January 17th, at 3 PM

Nominating Committee Meeting, January 11th at Noon

2022 Trustee Meetings (at noon)

March 9, 2022, The Annual Meeting
May 10, 2022, Trustee Meeting @ Society’s office pending further notice
September 13, 2022, Trustee Meeting @ Society’s office pending further notice
December 13, 2022, Trustee Meeting @ Society’s office pending further notice

2022 Events

November 13, 2022, OPEN HOUSE at our new location: 2827 Highland Avenue South, on Birmingham’s Southside, 35205. Free event, open to the public, light refreshments and preview of newest publication, yet to be released, Birmingham’s Dynamite Hill
February 16, 2022, 10AM and 6PM: Olmsted Scholar, Lawrence Cotton, presentation at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Co-sponsored by the Birmingham Historical Society which will be selling books on the work of the Olmsted Brothers in Birmingham (free but registration required)
February 28, 2022, 7PM: The 80th Annual Meeting of the Birmingham Historical Society featuring A Local Landmark & Legendary Leader: Slossfield & Dr. Boulware with Speakers: Sharon Holley & Thomas Boulware III (free & open to the public)
April 24, 2022, 5PM: Heritage Society at the Bush-Hill-Cooley Residence (ticket required)

~~Grandmother’s Garden at Sloss Quarters will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 10AM to 2PM~~

2021 Trustee Meetings (at noon)

March 9, 2021, The Annual Meeting, via Zoom
May 11, 2021, Trustee Meeting, via Zoom
Sept 14, 2021, Trustee Meeting, @ Society’s office pending further notice
Dec 14, 2021, Trustee Meeting, @ Society’s office pending further notice

2021 Events (pending resolution of the Covid-19 pandemic)

The Annual Meeting, date TBA
November 1, 2021: Publication Celebration for Birmingham: The City Beautiful, Compliments of George Ward,
Publication Celebration for A Guide to Birmingham, date TBA
Heritage Society Gathering 2020, Bush-Hill-Cooley House, Redmont Road, date TBA
Heritage Society Gathering 2021, Meyer-Lanier House, Altamont Road, date TBA
Alabama Plein Air Artists paint the Society’s garden at Sloss Quarters, April 25

2020 Events

Annual Meeting of the Members:

Presentation-The Saga of the Ross Bridge, John T. Milner, the South & North Railroad, and the Creation of Birmingham by Birgit Kibelka and Marjorie White
Presentation of our 2020 Strategic Plan
Publication Celebration for The Birmingham District-An Industrial History and Guide
Family Favorites: Cake and Pie Competition
February 24, 2020, 7-9 p.m.
Auditorium, Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Annual Tour of Churches-Avondale:
Led By David Bains
Begins at Redeemer Community Church
4022 4th Avenue South
April 5, 2020, 2-5 pm

POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE DUE TO COVID-19

Heritage Society Spring Gathering:
At the Bush-Hill Residence, Redmont Road
May 10, Noon
Tickets required.

2019 Events

FLASH SALE! One day ONLY!

Saturday, November 16th, 9AM to 4PM
at Little Hardware, 2117 Cahaba Road, 35223. Our most popular books will be ON SALE at heavily discounted prices, just in time for the holidays. Give the Gift of Birmingham History!

Second Saturdays at Sloss-Walks and Talks in Grandmother’s Garden, April-October, 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. This year’s plantings and Walks and Talks at Grandmother’s Garden explore cultural traditions in our Birmingham “soul” food.

Sunday, October 13, 3-5 p.m.–Garden Party, Publication Celebration, and Exhibit of watercolors from Pretty Posies, Healing Powers–An Herbal Primer by featured artists Sumter Coleman, Gail Cosby, Ellen Erdreich, Louise McPhillips, and Jane Reed Ross, all Birmingham residents. Grandmother’s Garden at Sloss Quarters, 10 North 32nd Street.
October 15-November 30–Watercolors from Pretty Posies, Healing Powers–An Herbal Primer. Birmingham Botanical Gardens Library Gallery.
August 10, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Greek Culinary Heritage
September 14, 10:30-11:30 a.m, American Culinary Heritage
October 12, 10:30-11:30 a.m., German Culinary Heritage

All programs are free of charge.

Available Now at BHS! One Hundred Years by Anne Roberts Gayler

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Birmingham Historical Society
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 321474
Birmingham, AL 35232

2827 Highland Avenue
Birmingham, AL 35205

BHS Business Office is open only
for scheduled meetings and appointments.

Historical Research, Publishing, and Education

Birmingham Historical Society Publications 1977-2023

2023. 100 Years by Anne Roberts Gayler
2022. Birmingham’s Dynamite Hill
2021. Birmingham: The City Beautiful, Compliments of G. Ward
2020. The Birmingham District: An Industrial History and Guide (reprint of 1981 edition)
2019. Pretty Posies, Powerful Healing: An Herbal Primer
2019. Shades Creek: Flowing Through Time
2018. Warren H. Manning’s City Plan for Birmingham, reprint of 1919 plan
2016. Birmingham, 1915, reprint
2016. For Science and Humanity: Building Southern Research
2015. Bob Moody’s Birmingham: A City in Watercolor
2014. Mountain Brook-A Historic American Landscape
2013. MINUTES-Central Committee of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
2012. The Jemison Magazine: Birmingham and Mountain Brook, 1926-1930, reprint of the magazines
2011. The Jemison Magazine and The Selling of Birmingham, 1910-1914, reprint of the magazines
2010. Digging Out of the Great Depression: Federal Programs At Work In and About the Birmingham Area
2009. Mountain Brook Village: Then & Now
2008. D.O. Whilldin: Alabama Architect
2007. Hand Down Unharmed: Olmsted Files on Birmingham Parks: 1910-1925
2006. The Olmsted Vision: Parks for Birmingham
2005. A Park System for Birmingham, Olmsted Brothers, 1925, Reprint.
2004. Art of the New South: Women Artists of Birmingham, 1890-1950
2003. A Guide to Architectural Styles Featuring Birmingham Homes
2001. Aspiration: Birmingham’s Historic Houses of Worship
2001. A Pizella Affair: Portraits of the Comer Family
1999. Walking Tours of Birmingham Churches Conducted from 1990-1999
1999. Vive Vulcan! Activities for Schools
1998. In Celebration of the Restoration of Alabama Power Company’s 1925 Tower
1998. Low Virtues: The Value of Human Scale Architecture to Birmingham Urbanism
1998. A Walk to Freedom-The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, 1956-1964
1997. Birmingham Bound-An Atlas of the South’s Premier Industrial Region
1996. Birmingham View: Through the Years in Photographs
1995. Birmingham’s Vulcan, reprint 1938 booklet
1995. Vulcan & His Times-A Tell all about Birmingham’s Most Famous Landmark
1994. The Birmingham Industrial Heritage District Map
1992. True Tales of Birmingham
1991. Mountain Brook Estates, reprint of a 1926 publication
1991. Judge Clarence Allgood: His Brother’s Keeper
1990. Cinderella Stories, Transformations of Historic Birmingham Buildings
1989. Designs on Birmingham: A Landscape History of a Southern City and its Suburbs
1989. Buildings Against Cities: The Struggle to Make Places
1988. House Detective: A Guide to Researching Birmingham Buildings
1986. Image of the City, by Grady Clay
1985. Go To Town, Birmingham: A Public Forum on a Vital City Center
1984. Old Birmingham-New Architecture: Student Projects for a Historic Downtown Context
1983. Five Points Heritage Hike and Patch
1982. Town Within A City: The Five Points South Neighborhood, 1880-1930
1981. The Birmingham District: An Industrial History and Guide
1980. Birmingham Heritage Hike Guide and Patch
1978. The Ghost in the Sloss Furnaces
1978. Downtown Discovery Tour
1978. Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide
1977-1987. The Journal of the Birmingham Historical Society, 14 issues