Tag Archives: Architecture

A Guide to Architectural Styles, Architecture, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, BOOK, Book Sale, lecture, Meetings, Neighborhoods, Publications

Residential Architecture Symposium

The Birmingham chapter of the American Institute of Architects is holding its first ever Residential Architecture Symposium.  The goal?  To give curious homeowners an opportunity to learn more about how the design of where they live can have a significant impact on how they live.   A summary of the event follows.

Keynote: “The Art & Science of Place Planning”

  • Speaker: Ryan Frederick, bestselling author (Right Place, Right Time) and Stanford Center on Longevity advisor.  Ryan is a friend and an engaging, informative and thoughtful speaker.   More about him and his work can be found here .  And his book is included in the ticket price!
  • Big Idea: We spend more time planning vacations than planning where we’ll live at different life stages.   We need a plan for the important life transitions too. 
  • What You’ll Learn: How your home and neighborhood directly impact your health, happiness, and longevity
  • Takeaway: Practical tools for making housing decisions that support your life goals—whether you’re renovating, relocating, or aging in place.

Purchase the Book that Inspired the Movement

The right place elevates personal well-being. It can help promote purpose, facilitate human connection, catalyze physical activity, support financial health, and inspire community engagement. 

Conversely, the wrong place can be detrimental to health. In Right Place, Right Time, Ryan Frederick argues that where you live matters enormously—especially during the second half of your life.

Panel: “Why Residential Architects Matter”

  • Real Stories: Local architects share how they’ve helped families solve complex design challenges
  • Behind the Scenes: Learn how architects guide homeowners through big and small construction decisions
  • Your Future Projects: Discover how architects create homes that are beautiful, sustainable, and designed to work for every life stage

Why This Matters to You:

  • Perfect for anyone thinking about home improvements, life transitions, or helping aging parents
  • Opportunity to learn from experts in the field – whether that’s thinking about aging in place or designing a new addition for your family.
  • Rare chance to network with residential architects and vendors who can answer questions about how they work to design custom homes.

Details:

Ticket Link Here  – Ticket price includes Ryan’s book!  Bring a friend—these conversations are better shared!

Tuesday, September 16th, noon to 3pm.  

BIrmingham Botanical Gardens, Doors open to the public at noon.

See also Birmingham Historical Society’s A Guide to Architectural Styles

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Rickwood Field – Did You Know?

Birmingham Historical Society co-sponsored the 1993 documentation known as HABS AL-897 to establish Rickwood Field as America’s oldest ballpark.

The project’s 28 photos, 22 drawings, and a 58-page historical report, at the Library of Congress, are now available worldwide.

To commemorate their involvement, the Birmingham Historical Society created a poster (illustrated below) documenting the Society’s role in helping launch the Rickwood Revival of the 1990s.

The Society brought Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), a federal program that documents historic architecture in the United States, to Birmingham to conduct the field work necessary to establish the national significance of the ball park, not only architecturally but also as the home of the Black Barons launching baseball stars including Mules Suttles, Satchel Paige, and Willie Mays.

Up until then, the newly formed Friends of Rickwood assumed that they were the oldest park without documentation, despite other contenders, because Comiskey Park in Chicago had just been demolished.

The Friends took the HABS drawings and made them into promotional renderings to kick off their long-term campaign to preserve and enliven the park. It’s a remarkable success story…about which we will hear more at the Annual Meeting February 24th at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. It’s FREE and open to the public. Please join us!

What is HABS?

Purpose: 

  • To create a public archive of American architecture
  • To establish standard practices for surveying and listing historic sites
  • To help restore and rehabilitate historic properties
  • To inform new designs based on historical precedents

History: 

  • Established in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • Originally a make-work program for unemployed architects, draftsmen, and photographers
  • Became a permanent program of the National Park Service in 1934
  • Formally authorized by Congress in 1935
  • Documentation: Measured drawings, Large-format black and white photographs, Written histories, and Supplemental materials. 

Significance:

  • HABS documentation is part of the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.
  • HABS is the nation’s oldest federal preservation program
  • HABS documentation is often a key part of preservation efforts  
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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
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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
A Guide to Architectural Styles, Architecture, Birmingham Historical Society, BOOK, Book Sale, Historic Preservation, Housing, Neighborhoods, Publications, Research

The Simplicity of the Two Room House

Numerous examples of this style of construction existed in the antebellum South as slave quarters and later as company housing. This is a twentieth century example.

Find out about this and numerous other popular home building styles with Birmingham Historical Society’s book, A Guide to Architectural Styles featuring Birmingham Homes. It features the drawings of Auburn University’s Professor of Architecture, Cheryl Morgan, with descriptions by BHS Director, Marjorie White.
A Guide to Architectural Styles, Birmingham Historical Society, BOOK, family history, Historic Preservation, Research

How do you determine if you have a Greek Revival house?

Find out about this and numerous other popular home building styles with Birmingham Historical Society’s book, A Guide to Architectural Styles featuring Birmingham Homes. It features the drawings of Auburn University’s Professor of Architecture, Cheryl Morgan, with descriptions by BHS Director, Marjorie White. Here’s an example:

GREEK REVIVAL

Americans chose the Greek Revival style for early public buildings. In love with the concept of Greek democracy, they built 19th-Century versions of ancient temples to house state capitols and banks. Homeowners also chose this prominent, historic style.

In the South, an elaborate portico became synonymous with the agricultural elite. And although actual

Greek temples were polychrome,

American temple-front houses were almost always white. Their rectangular massing emulated the proportions of the masonry originals.

  • Symmetrical façade
  • Columned portico (often full-width)
  • Classical details: portico, cornice, entablature, columns, pilasters
  • Rectangular shape

GREEK REVIVAL

Americans chose the Greek Revival style for early public buildings. In love with the concept of Greek democracy, they built 19th-Century versions of ancient temples to house state capitols and banks. Homeowners also chose this prominent, historic style.

In the South, an elaborate portico became synonymous with the agricultural elite. And although actual

Greek temples were polychrome,

American temple-front houses were almost always white. Their rectangular massing emulated the proportions of the masonry originals.

Architecture, Birmingham Historical Society, BOOK, Book Sale, Historic Preservation, Publications

What is the architectural style of your home?

Curious about whether your home fits the classic description of a particular architectural style? This was the focus of the BHS book, A Guide to Architectural Styles, featuring Birmingham Homes. Line drawings are accompanied by details to look for when determining architectural characteristics. Forty-five popular Birmingham styles include the Bungalow, Cottage, Ranch, Split-Level, Classical Revival, Shotgun, Tudor, Prairie, and Craftsman. An example of the ever popular Craftsman Style home is pictured below:

Architecture, Historic Preservation, lecture, Research

Who Built The White House?

Find out at a lecture at Samford University, Thursday, October 20th by the president of the White House Historical Association, Stewart McLaurin. Tickets go on sale October 15th HERE

Stewart McLaurin is the president of the White House Historical Association. He will speak at Samford on Thursday evening, October 20. His topic will be James Hoban, the Irish born designer and builder of the White House, and the skilled Europeans, enslaved workers, and free laborers who built the White House. 

The event is free and open to the public.

Tickets can be claimed here: Stewart D. McLaurin President of the White House Historical Association

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

Celebrating a NEW/OLD (1924) Location

An historic 1924 apartment building on Highland Avenue is our NEW/OLD location! Birmingham Historical Society members and volunteers have been slowly moving 37 years of research documents and publications from The Duncan House at Sloss Quarters to 2827 Highland Avenue on Birmingham’s Southside.

Many thanks in particular to Pat & Ehney Camp, The Camp Foundation, John Lauriello with SouthPace Properties, BHS President Wayne Hester, Regina & Blue Ammon, Gerry Waters, Carol Slaughter, Carol Ogle and Marjorie White for making this vision a reality.

Read more about the interesting history of our new location in September’s newsletter HERE. Our mailing address remains P.O. Box 321474/Birmingham, AL 35232.