The City of Birmingham sanctioned a red light district which operated from 1905 to 1915 along 1st Avenue South, east of 20th Street. (Birmingham by the Book, pg 58) Madame Blanche Bernard offered free carriage rides from her ‘house of ill repute’ to guests’ hotels. She was among several proprietors who ran ‘classy sporting houses’. Statewide prohibition in 1915 shut these down as well as more than 100 saloons on Birmingham’s Southside.
Today’s Rotary Trail follows the stretch of tracks along 1st Avenue South linking Railroad Park to Sloss Furnaces as part of the Freshwater Land Trust’s Red Rock Trail System. And breweries once again flourish in the area.
Seaboard Saloon (1897) 2131 1st Avenue South
Madam Blance Bernard (1907) 2227 1st Avenue South
Rotary Trail (2016) 1st Avenue South from 20th Street to 24th Street South
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!
