Mark your calendars for the Heritage Hunt and Open Houses featuring Porch and Garden Parties, a Birmingham Homes Exhibit, advice on how to get an historical marker, and opportunities to buy books about Birmingham. This popular 2nd annual event is lots of fun and a great opportunity to meet your Southside neighbors and tour some historic properties.
When: Sunday, October 19th, 3-5 PM
Where: Birmingham Historical Society, 2827 Highland Avenue South
Pay close attention to some of the architectural details in this neighborhood. Those completing the Heritage Hunt form distributed on Sunday at Birmingham Historical Society can claim a prize of the popular book, A Guide to Architectural Styles Featuring Birmingham Homes. Hope to see you Sunday!
As Birmingham deals with the demolition of historic homes and structures including Quinlan Castle, Birmingham Terminal Station, the Art Deco Regions Bank in Five Points South, a Glen Iris home, etc. it’s important to consider what really makes a building worth saving as well as remembering those we’ve lost.
Click image above for story.
A building is considered worth saving when its inherent value, including historical significance, architectural merit, potential for adaptive reuse, community connection, and long-term cost-effectiveness outweighs the cost of restoration or preservation, making it more beneficial to maintain and renovate rather than demolish and rebuild.
Historical Significance:Buildings with a rich historical past or association with important events often hold significant cultural value and are worth preserving.
Architectural Merit:Buildings with unique design elements, innovative construction techniques, or aesthetically pleasing features are considered architecturally valuable.
Community Connection:Buildings that serve as a central gathering place or hold sentimental value for the community are often worth preserving.
Adaptive Reuse Potential:Buildings that can be repurposed for new uses, like converting an old warehouse into apartments, can be cost-effective to maintain and provide valuable community space.
Structural Integrity:A building with a strong structural foundation and good overall condition is more likely to be worth saving as renovation costs will be lower.
Environmental Impact:Demolition and new construction often generate significant waste and carbon emissions, making preservation a more sustainable option.
But perhaps the most important factor is how a building connects with the community. If a place is loved by the locals—maybe because it looks great or holds some shared memories—it’s likely to get more support for preservation. These buildings become part of the neighborhood’s identity, and people take pride in them. Developers and city councils alike respond to community support for a building. Note the “Little Villa” story in Birmingham’s Southside below.
Click image above for story.
Birmingham Historical Society can help with providing zoning regulations, historic preservation ordinances, property values, historical and architectural significance, current building standards, etc. but cannot stop the demolition of a building without strong community involvement.
Ultimately, deciding whether to keep or demolish a building isn’t straightforward. It involves considering history, architecture, community sentiment, and even economic factors. Many of Birmingham’s historic downtown buildings have been saved, as documented by Rev Birmingham HERE and in BHS’s Cinderella Stories. But as Birmingham continues to weigh which buildings to save, it’s important to hear what everyone thinks and take a close look at how these choices shape the city’s future and maintain its unique character.
Birmingham’s Terminal Station was demolished in 1969. from AL.com “The great shame is that Birmingham lost one of its most glorious landmarks to an ill-conceived proposition. It’s certainly the most unpopular razing of any structure in the city’s history, and although it probably took another ten or fifteen years after we lost the Terminal Station, we now seem to put a great deal more thought into what a particular building or landmark means to the fabric of the community. There’s no more just knocking things down,” former Mayor Seibels concluded. (Click image above for story.) Updated: Feb. 19, 2020, 7:15 p.m. Published: Oct. 17, 2018, 5:00 a.m. By Jeremy Gray | jgray@al.com
Birmingham Historical Society is excited to be assembling a vibrant photographic collection of all of the historic homes that were constructed along Highland Avenue South. Director Marjorie White highlights the neighborhood’s significance to Birmingham’s rich history in the attached CBS 42 video. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year as we celebrate another year in our historic 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.)
