This beautiful but heavily forested and neglected overlook at the crest of the mountain in Redmont Park needed attention to preserve its beauty and longevity. So neighbors and parkgoers alike called upon landscape architect and long-time Birmingham Historical Society Trustee, Birgit Kibelka, to develop a Master Plan. Watercolors by local artist Adrienne Retief illustrate the goals they commissioned. Read about its history and follow along on their website as they execute their plan!
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.
These historic sites include Warren Manning’s plan for Mountain Brook, Ross Bridge, Altamont Park, the George Ward Preserve, Brock’s Gap, Bluff Park and the Shades Creek watershed.
Birgit initiated the Brock’s Gap research project after discovering plans for a road that could potentially harm the significant historic site. It ultimately led to the inclusion of historic sites in Hoover’s 2023 Parks & Public Spaces Plan (pgs 44-47).
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!
Here is a concrete example of how the Birmingham Historical Society contributes to the quality of life in Birmingham based on the goals listed below. Trustee Birgit Kibelka and Director Marjorie White worked with the City of Hoover planning team to include historic sites in their comprehensive Park & Public Spaces Plan 2023, bringing multiple sites to their attention with well-documented research, part of which was used on pages 44-47 of the Master Plan. (For the entire Parks Public Spaces + Recreation Plan, see the link below) Thank you Birgit & Marjorie for your dedication and input!
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.
Click HERE for Online Survey and Meeting Schedule
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
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:
You can HELP by buying tickets or donating if you can’t attend.
The mission of the Birmingham Historical Society includes supporting the preservation of historic landmarks and educating the community about their significance. This often requires field study, mapping, photography, and fact checking before informing owners and developers about their property’s history.
Many times, owners are initially unaware of the historic significance of their property, but once it’s pointed out, they begin to see the historic landmarks on their property as amenities that not only need to be preserved but that can also enhance its marketability .
As posted in The Hoover Sun by Jon Anderson on November 25, 2021, Developer and Signature Homes President, Jonathon Belcher, soon realized how working around Brock’s Gap could enhance any future development as he states:
“… (he) wants to use the Brock’s Gap cut as a pedestrian pathway to help connect Ross Bridge and the Everlee community to 10 miles of mountain bike trails his company built in Trace Crossings, and eventually to historic coke ovens across the Cahaba River in Helena.”
“For us, that old railbed will serve as a great connector trail that’s already built, so we like having that there,” he said. “It enhances the communities we create.”
Completed 150 years ago, the beautiful, forested railbed at Brock’s Gap was the last and most laborious stretch of the South and North Alabama Railroad that finally connected Montgomery to the mineral region of central Alabama. With this important link finally in place, the city of Birmingham was founded a month later, on December 19th, 1871. For more photos and information, please click here and scroll to read all articles related to this issue (including this one).
And a year later, the final link of South & North —from Birmingham to Decatur — created the first railway linking the north and the south in the United States.
Thanks largely to the efforts of Birmingham Historical Society trustees, Marjorie White and Birgit Kibelka, the importance of Brock’s Gap has been brought to the attention of not only the community, but also to the developers and city leaders who will determine its future. For the Birmingham Historical Society, that is their stated mission, accomplished.
Today’s Alabama Audubon was organized in 1927 by Birmingham Mayor George Ward who was influenced by birdhouse salesman, Joseph Dodson. After purchasing a collection of his products for his private residence in Vestavia, Ward became an avid bird enthusiast. He solicited the help of Dr. H.E. Wheeler, who was a curator of the natural history museum at the University of Alabama, to present an illustrated ‘bird talk’ and the Birmingham Audubon Society was born with 49 members, and George Ward as President.
Thanks to his efforts and those of his neighbor, E.J. Smyer, who had an interest in preserving wildflowers, a law was passed to preserve wildflowers in 1927 and wild birds in 1929 which exists to this day. Of the 800 recorded species in the United States, 327 were documented by the National Audubon Society to reside in Alabama.
Birmingham Historical Society’s November 2021 newsletter elaborates on the history of this organization and lists the 49 charter members. Interested in birding trails nearby? Here’s a map and list of popular areas to explore in Jefferson County. This guide or this list might be helpful as well. Finally, the Alabama Audubon’s quarterly guide lists upcoming events through the end of the 2021 year.
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?
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!
