Timeline of Birmingham, Alabama
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
19th century
[edit]| History of Alabama |
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- 1871
- 1874
- Birmingham becomes seat of Jefferson County.[2]
- First Colored Baptist Church founded.
- Cholera epidemic.[2]
- Birmingham Iron Age newspaper in publication.[3]
- 1880 - Population: 3,086.[4]
- 1881 - Alabama Christian Advocate newspaper begins publication.[5]
- 1882
- Sloss Furnace begins operating.
- O'Brien's Opera House opens.[6]
- 1887 - Howard College active in East Lake.
- 1888 - Evening News and Birmingham Age-Herald newspapers in publication.
- 1890
- 1891 - Birmingham Commercial Club incorporated.
- 1893
- Cathedral of Saint Paul built.
- St. Mark's School opens.[7][8]
- 1895
- Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company headquarters relocated to Birmingham.[9]
- Birmingham Conservatory of Music established.[10]
- 1896 - Spencer Business College established.[10]
- 1900 - Population: 38,415.[11]
20th century
[edit]1900s-1950s
[edit]- 1901 - March 25: Storm.[3]
- 1907
- Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company acquired by United States Steel Corporation.[12]
- Miles Memorial College active in nearby Fairfield.[13]
- 1909
- City expands to include Ensley, North Birmingham, Pratt City, Woodlawn.[2]
- Birmingham Terminal Station[3] and Empire Building[citation needed] constructed.
- 1910 - Population: 132,685.[11]
- 1912 - John Hand Building constructed.
- 1913 - City Federal Building constructed.
- 1916
- October 18: 1916 Irondale earthquake.
- Robert E. Lee Klan No.1 formed.[14]
- 1917 - Civitan Club founded.[14]
- 1918 - Birmingham–Southern College established.
- 1919 - Alabama Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs formed in Birmingham.[15]
- 1920
- Progressive Farmer magazine headquartered in Birmingham.[5]
- Population: 178,806.[14]
- 1922 - WAPI radio begins broadcasting.[16]
- 1923 - Traffic lights installed.[14]
- 1924 - Avondale Sun newspaper begins publication.[3]
- 1925 - WBRC radio begins broadcasting.[16]
- 1927 - Alabama Theatre opens.[3]
- 1928 - Exchange-Security Bank established.[17]
- 1929 - Thomas Jefferson Hotel built.
- 1930
- Southern Worker newspaper begins publication.[18]
- Population: 259,678.[14]
- 1933 - Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union active.[19]
- 1936
- Local Steel Workers Organizing Committee formed.[20]
- Vulcan statue erected atop Red Mountain.[4]
- 1940 - Population: 267,583.[11]
- 1942 - Birmingham Historical Society founded.[21]
- 1949 - WAPI-TV and WBRC-TV (television) begin broadcasting.[22]
- 1950
- Birmingham Post-Herald newspaper in publication.[5]
- Population: 326,037.[11]
- 1955 - Birmingham Zoo established.[23]
- 1956
- Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights headquartered in Birmingham.
- Alabama Symphony Orchestra active.
- 1958 - EBSCO Industries in business.[9]
- 1959 - West End Hills Missionary Baptist Church built.
1960s-1990s
[edit]- 1960
- Briarwood Presbyterian Church (later megachurch) established.[24]
- Eastwood Mall in business.[3]
- Population: 340,887.[11]
- 1961 - First Baptist Church, Kingston built.
- 1962 - Two North Twentieth built.[citation needed]
- 1963
- April 3: Birmingham campaign for civil rights begins.[25]
- April 16: Martin Luther King Jr. writes his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", first published in June 1963 issues of Liberation,[26] The Christian Century,[27] and The New Leader.
- May: Birmingham riot of 1963.
- September 15: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.[12][28]
- Birmingham Botanical Gardens open.
- 1965
- Airport Drive-In cinema opens.[29]
- Southern Museum of Flight established.[21]
- 1966 - Southern Living magazine headquartered in Birmingham.
- 1969 - Birmingham Terminal Station demolished.[30]
- 1970
- Daniel Building constructed.
- Population: 300,910.[11]
- 1971 - First Alabama Bancshares headquartered in city.[citation needed]
- 1972 - South Central Bell Building and First National-Southern Natural Building built.
- 1975 - Birmingham Vulcans football team formed.
- 1979 - Richard Arrington, Jr. becomes mayor.
- 1980 - Population: 284,413.[11]
- 1982
- 1986
- South Trust Tower built.
- Alabama Humanities Foundation headquartered in Birmingham.
- 1988 - AmSouth-Harbert Plaza (hi-rise) built.
- 1990
- Birmingham Islamic Society formed.[34][35]
- Population: 265,968.[11]
- 1992 - Birmingham Civil Rights Institute established.[21]
- 1993
- 1995 - Sister city agreement established with Székesfehérvár, Hungary.[33]
- 1996
- City website online (approximate date).[37][chronology citation needed]
- Sister city agreement established with Anshan, China.[33]
- 1997 - Sister city agreement established with Gweru, Zimbabwe.[33]
- 1998
- April 6–9, 1998 tornado outbreak.
- Establishment of sister city agreement with Pomigliano d'Arco, Naples, Italy, and friendship city agreements with Chaoyang District, Beijing, China, and Maebashi, Japan.[33]
- 1999 - Friendship city agreement established with Krasnodon, Ukraine.[33]
- 2000 - Population: 242,840.
21st century
[edit]- 2001 - Church of the Highlands (megachurch) founded.[24]
- 2003 - Sister city agreement established with Vinnytsia, Ukraine.[33]
- 2005
- Birmingham Post-Herald newspaper ceases publication.[5]
- Locust Fork News-Journal begins publication.[38]
- Sister city agreements established with Al-Karak, Jordan; Guédiawaye, Senegal; Plzeň, Czech Republic; and Rosh HaAyin, Israel.[33]
- 2009 - Sister city agreement established with Winneba, Ghana.[33]
- 2010
- Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra formed.[39]
- William A. Bell becomes mayor.
- Population: 212,237.[40]
- 2011 - Terri Sewell becomes U.S. representative for Alabama's 7th congressional district.[41]
- 2015
- Minimum wage approved in city.[42]
- Sister city agreement established with Liverpool, England.[33]
- 2017 - Randall Woodfin becomes mayor.
- 2020 - Population: 200,733.
- 2021 - Birmingham Stallions football team is formed [43]
- 2022 - 2022 World Games were hosted.[44]
- 2024 - September 2024 Birmingham shooting: Four people are killed and seventeen others are injured during a mass shooting.[45]
Images
[edit]-
Overview of Birmingham, 1907 -
Ensley, Birmingham, 1937 -
Overview of Birmingham, 1972 -
Southside, Birmingham, 2010 -
Bird's-eye view of Samford University campus
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See also
[edit]- History of Birmingham, Alabama
- List of mayors of Birmingham, Alabama
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Birmingham, Alabama
- List of neighborhoods in Birmingham, Alabama
- Timelines of other cities in Alabama: Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa
References
[edit]- ^ Leon E. Seltzer, ed. (1952), Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, New York: Columbia University Press, p. 221, OL 6112221M
- ^ a b c d Owen 1921.
- ^ a b c d e f "Browse Collections". Digital Collections. Birmingham Public Library. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ a b c Federal Writers' Project 1941, "Birmingham".
- ^ a b c d e "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ Teeple 1887.
- ^ Barbara Brandon Schnorrenberg (2002), ""The Best School for Blacks in the State" St. Mark's Academic and Industrial School, Birmingham, Alabama 1892-1940", Anglican and Episcopal History, 71 (4): 519–549, JSTOR 42615917
- ^ "St. Mark's School, Birmingham, Alabama", Colored American Magazine, vol. 13, New York: Moore Publishing, 1907, hdl:2027/uc1.b3793667
- ^ a b "Encyclopedia of Alabama". Alabama Humanities Foundation. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
- ^ a b Patterson's American Educational Directory. Vol. 19. Chicago. 1922. hdl:2027/mdp.39015062798783.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, US Census Bureau, 1998
- ^ a b Lynda Brown; et al. (1998). "Chronology". Alabama History: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-28223-2.
- ^ Negro Education: A Study of the Private and Higher Schools for Colored People in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1917. p. 51.
- ^ a b c d e Brownell 1972.
- ^ "Archives & Manuscripts - Guide to the Collections". Birmingham Public Library. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- ^ a b Jack Alicoate, ed. (1939), "Alabama", Radio Annual, New York: Radio Daily, OCLC 2459636
- ^ "Institution Directory". Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Archived from the original on May 10, 2000. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ Ingalls 1981.
- ^ Draper 1996.
- ^ Norrell 1986.
- ^ a b c American Association for State and Local History 2002.
- ^ Charles A. Alicoate, ed. (1960), "Television Stations: Alabama", Radio Annual and Television Year Book, New York: Radio Daily Corp., OCLC 10512206
- ^ Vernon N. Kisling, Jr., ed. (2001). "Zoological Gardens of the United States (chronological list)". Zoo and Aquarium History. USA: CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-3924-5.
- ^ a b Scott Thumma (ed.). "Database of Megachurches in the U.S." Connecticut: Hartford Seminary. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- ^ "Events", Civil Rights Digital Library, Athens, GA: Digital Library of Georgia (Timeline)
- ^ King, Martin Luther Jr. (1963). "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Liberation: An Independent Monthly. Vol. 8, no. 4. pp. 10–16, 23. ISSN 0024-189X.
- ^ Reprinted in "Reporting Civil Rights, Part One", (pp. 777–794), American Journalism 1941–1963. The Library of America
- ^ "On This Day", New York Times, retrieved November 1, 2014
- ^ a b "Movie Theaters in Birmingham, AL". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ "Birmingham, Alabama: A city using theatres to reinvent itself", BBC News, April 12, 2019
- ^ "About". Birmingham: Community Food Bank of Central Alabama. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ "Alabama Food Banks". Food Bank Locator. Chicago: Feeding America. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Birmingham Sister City Anniversary Dates". Birmingham Sister Cities. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017.
- ^ "History". Hoover, Alabama: Birmingham Islamic Society. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ Pluralism Project. "Birmingham, Alabama". Directory of Religious Centers. Harvard University. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ "Alabama". Official Congressional Directory. 1993. hdl:2027/uc1.l0072691827 – via Hathi Trust.
- ^ "City of Birmingham, Alabama". Archived from the original on 1996-10-30 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Alabama". CJR's Guide to Online News Startups. New York: Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ "Organization Directory". Birmingham365.org. Create Birmingham. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
- ^ "Birmingham (city), Alabama". State & County QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 11, 2012. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
- ^ "Alabama". Official Congressional Directory. Government Printing Office. 2011. ISBN 978-0-16-088653-9.
- ^ "When a State Balks at a City's Minimum Wage", New York Times, February 21, 2016
- ^ "USFL is set to return in 2022, bringing back the Birmingham Stallions", The Tuscaloosa News, November 22, 2021
- ^ "World Games Birmingham 2022: 13,000 foreign visitors from 40 countries are here", al.com, July 7, 2022
- ^ "Four dead and 18 hurt in Alabama mass shooting". British Broadcasting Corporation News. 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
Bibliography
[edit]Published in 19th century
[edit]- Saffold Berney (1878), "Birmingham", Handbook of Alabama, Mobile: Mobile Register print.
- "City Directory of Birmingham". Birmingham Directory. Atlanta, Ga.: Interstate Directory Co.: v 1884.
- John W. DuBose, ed., The Mineral Wealth of Alabama and Birmingham (Birmingham, 1886)
- 1887 Pocket Business Directory and Guide to Birmingham, Ala. 1887 – via Birmingham Public Library.[permanent dead link]
- Jefferson County and Birmingham, Alabama: Historical and Biographical. Teeple & Smith. 1887. ISBN 978-0-89308-041-9.
- Henry M. Caldwell, History of the Elyton Land Company and Birmingham, Ala. 1892.
Published in 20th century
[edit]- Code of City of Birmingham, Alabama. 1917.
- "Birmingham". Automobile Blue Book. USA. 1919.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Cruikshank, A History of Birmingham and Its Environs (2 vols., Chicago, 1920)
- Thomas McAdory Owen (1921), "Birmingham", History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Chicago: S.J. Clarke, OCLC 1872130
- Harrison A. Trexler, "Birmingham's Struggle with Commission Government," National Municipal Review, XIV (November 1925)
- George R. Leighton, "Birmingham, Alabama: The City of Perpetual Promise," Harper's Magazine, CLXXV (August 1937)
- Federal Writers' Project (1941), Alabama; a Guide to the Deep South, American Guide Series, New York: Hastings House, hdl:2027/uc1.b4469723 – via Hathi Trust
- Florence H. W. Moss, Building Birmingham and Jefferson County (Birmingham, Ala.: Birmingham Printing Company, 1947)
- John C. Henley, Jr., This Is Birmingham: The Story of the Founding and Growth of an American City. 1960.
- Paul B. Worthman, "Black Workers and Labor Unions in Birmingham, Alabama, 1897-1904," Labor History, 10 (Summer 1969)
- Paul B. Worthman, "Working Class Mobility in Birmingham, Alabama, 1880-1914," in Anonymous Americans: Explorations in Nineteenth-Century Social History, ed. Tamara K. Hareven (Englewood Cliffs, 1971)
- Blaine A. Brownell (1972), "Birmingham, Alabama: New South City in the 1920s", Journal of Southern History, 38 (1): 21–48, doi:10.2307/2206652, JSTOR 2206652
- McMillan, Malcolm C. Yesterday's Birmingham. Miami: E.A. Seeman Publishing, 1975.
- Ory Mazar Nergal, ed. (1980), "Birmingham, AL", Encyclopedia of American Cities, New York: E.P. Dutton, OL 4120668M
- Robert P. Ingalls (1981), "Antiradical Violence in Birmingham During the 1930s", Journal of Southern History, 47 (4): 521–544, doi:10.2307/2207401, JSTOR 2207401
- Valley and the Hills: An Illustrated History of Birmingham and Jefferson County. 1981
- Robert J. Norrell (1986), "Caste in Steel: Jim Crow Careers in Birmingham, Alabama", Journal of American History, 73 (3): 669–694, doi:10.2307/1902982, JSTOR 1902982
- Old Birmingham, OCLC 38508791 1991-
- George Thomas Kurian (1994), "Birmingham, Alabama", World Encyclopedia of Cities, vol. 1: North America (United States A-M), Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, ISBN 978-0-87436-649-5 – via Open Library
- Henry M. McKiven (1995). Iron and Steel: Class, Race, and Community in Birmingham, Alabama, 1875-1920. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-4524-0.
- Alan Draper (1996), "New Southern Labor History Revisited: The Success of the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union in Birmingham, 1934-1938", Journal of Southern History, 62 (1): 87–108, doi:10.2307/2211207, JSTOR 2211207
- "The South: Alabama: Birmingham", USA, Let's Go, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999, OL 24937240M
- Lynne B. Feldman, A Sense of Place: Birmingham's Black Middle Class Community, 1890-1930 (Tuscaloosa, 1999)
Published in 21st century
[edit]- "Alabama: Birmingham", Louisiana & the Deep South, Lonely Planet, 2001, ISBN 978-1-86450-216-9 – via Open Library
- American Association for State and Local History (2002). "Alabama: Birmingham". Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada (15th ed.). Rowman Altamira. ISBN 0-7591-0002-0.
- Richard Pillsbury, ed. (2006). "Birmingham". Geography. New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Vol. 2. University of North Carolina Press. p. 156. OCLC 910189354.
External links
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to History of Birmingham, Alabama.
- Jim Lewis. "Birmingham". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Alabama Humanities Foundation.
- Items related to Birmingham, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)
- "(City: Birmingham)". Alabama Repositories Directory. Alabama Department of Archives & History.
A listing of public entities and private organizations holding historical records, artifacts, and other cultural heritage materials