Jefferson County, Alabama

1963 Church Bombing Victims 4th Avenue District A City of Two Governments A History Of Vestavia Hills A New City A New Organization is Born A New Strategy: All-Out Attack A. G. Gaston Building A.B. Loveman House ACMHR & the Second Revolution ACMHR & the Student Activists Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Alabama Penny Savings Bank/Pythian Temple Building Alabama Veterans Memorial Alabama's Rebel Yell America's First Office Park Answering the Call Arrested at City Hall Arthur D. Shores Attorney for His People Ballard-Hamilton House and Office Before Birmingham: Jones Valley Belview Heights Neighborhood Bethel's Pastor Leads the Leaders Birmingham - Southern College Birmingham City Hall Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Birmingham District Minerals Birmingham Mineral Railroad Birmingham Mineral Railroad Point of Curve Marker Birmingham Water Works Company (1887) / Cahaba Pumping Station (1890) Birth of an Icon Birth of the SCLC Bishop Calvin Wallace Woods, Sr. Black Birmingham Housing Black Business Plans Black Classes and the Masses Black Creek Park, Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership and the Fultondale Coke Oven Park Bluff Park Elementary School / Hoover Community Education Boilers Boutwell Auditorium Briarwood Presbyterian Church PCA Bright Star / Koikos Restaurant Brock Drugs Building Brock’s Gap / Historic Gateway To Birmingham Brookside's Unique Heritage / Brookside Russian Orthodox Church Building The Park Cahaba Project Canaan Baptist Church Canterbury United Methodist Church Carrie A. Tuggle Casting Pigs CDR "Snuffy" Smith Celebrity Star Power Center Point, Alabama Children of Dynamite Hill Children Under Attack Children Under Pressure Children's Crusade for Education Civil Rights Freedom Riders Clark Building Clay Methodist Cemetery Colored Masonic Temple Concord Center Confederate Storehouse Burned By Federal Troops Congressional Medal Of Honor Recipients Courthouse Prayer Death of an Icon Desegregating Ramsay School Desegregating West End School Designing Vulcan Park Dewberry Drugs and Phenix Insurance Company Buildings Disabled American Veterans Don't Tread on Me Donnelly House Downtown Graysville Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Ruth J. Jackson Dunbar Hotel Building Urban Impact Office, Duncan House East Birmingham East Lake Community East Lake Park Eddie James Kendrick Eddie Kendricks Memorial Park Edgewood Edgewood Lake (Drained 1940's) Birmingham Motor & Country Club / Edgewood Country Club Education of Black Folk Emory Overton Jackson Equality for All Famous Theatre First Baptist Church of Trussville First Neighborhoods, then Schools First Tuberculosis Sanatorium Five Points South Foot Soldier Tribute Forest Park Former F.W. Woolworth Store Building Forrest Camp No. 1435 Foundations of Beehive Coke Ovens Founding Of Hoover Fourth Avenue Historic District. Fraternal Hotel Building Frisco No. 4018 Gardendale, Alabama Gentle Giant of Dynamite Hill Glen Iris Park Graham Cemetery Graymont Elementary School Green Acres Café Greyhound Bus Station Ground Zero Guards at the Gate Hale - Joseph Home Hallman Hill Historic Black Bath House Historic Demonstration at Phillips School Historic Lakeview Cemetery History of the 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing Hollywood / Hollywood Town Hall / Hollywood Country Club Homewood Hoover Hope Arrives Hosea Holcombe Howard College Independent Presbyterian Church Industry Integration Begins: Desegregating Graymont School Integration Corner Ironmaking It Began at Bethel Jefferson County Courthouse Site Jefferson County Courthouses Jefferson Warriors Jim Crow on the Books John Henry John Wesley Hall Grist Mill & Cotton Gin Joining the Marches Jonathan Bass House Museum Jordan Home Julius Ellsberry Julius Ellsberry Memorial Park Kelly Ingram Park King's Spring Kiwanis and Vulcan Kneeling Ministers Lane Park Leading by Example, Part 1 Leading by Example, Part 2 Leaving Town, But Not the Battle Leeds Benchmarks In History "Lest We Forget" Let My Brother Go Linn-Henley Research Library Little Boy Blue Little Lady Can Read Little Lady in Waiting Love & Marriage Loveman's Department Store/McWane Science Center Lover’s Leap Lynching In America / The Lynching of William Miller March Route for Education Timeline Marchers on the Run Metropolitan AME Zion Church Miles College Leaders, Students Active During Civil Rights Era Mineral Railroad Trestle Mining Red Mountain Monte D'Oro Morris Avenue Historic District / Elyton Land Company (Successor, Birmingham Realty Co.) Mount Calvary Cemetery Mountain Brook Mt. Hebron Cemetery Mt. Hebron School Music in the Movement New Hope Cemetery Newberry's Department Store/IMAX Dome Theater Non-Violent Foot Soldiers North Birmingham Oldest House In Shades Valley / Irondale Furnace Commissary Osmond Kelly Ingram Overseer’s House Oxmoor Iron Furnaces Patton Chapel Church 1866 Pauline Bray Fletcher Paying the Ultimate Price "Peace Be Still" Phillips High School Picketing for a Point Pinson, Alabama Pioneer Farm Buildings Pioneer Massey Cemetery Police Presence Poole Funeral Chapel Powell School Public Library Desegregated Racial Terrorism and Convict Leasing / Racial Violence at Brookside Mines Racial Terrorism and Criminal Justice / Lynching in Irondale Racial Zoning Raymond Weeks Reading Red Mountain Redmont Park Historic District Reflecting Pool Resistance on the Hill Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Bethel Baptist Church Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail’ Rev. Shuttlesworth Calls for Peace and Action Rickwood Field Rickwood Field Robert Jemison, Jr. (1878-1974) / The Old Mill (1927) Rocky Ridge Elementary School Roebuck Spring Roebuck Springs Historic District Rosedale Ross Bridge Rowan House Ruhama Baptist Church S. H. Kress Five-And-Ten Cent Store S.H. Kress Store Building Samford University School Integration Now School of Medicine Secret Multiracial Meetings Selective Buying Campaign Separate But Unequal Education Shades Crest Road Historical District Shades Crest Road Historical District Shades Valley High School Shiloh Cemetery Shores-Lee Law Offices/Post Office Garage Shutting Down Downtown Shuttlesworth after the Civil Rights Era Shuttlesworth Continues the Struggle Shuttlesworth Goes to Work Shuttlesworth in Selma Shuttlesworth Returns to Birmingham Shuttlesworth Showdown Shuttlesworth Starts the ACMHR Shuttlesworth v. "Bull" Sibyl Temple Site of the First Alabama - Auburn Football Game Sitting in for Lunch Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and Parsonage Sixth Avenue Zion Hill Baptist Church Slag Sloss Blast Furnaces Sloss Furnaces Smithfield South at the White House South View Southern Resistance St John AME Church and Day Care Center St. Paul United Methodist Church St. Vincent’s Hospital Stock Trestle/Tunnel Sweet Home / Henry W. Sweet Tapawingo Bridge Tarrant City Hall Taxi Stand Temple Wilson Tutwiler, II / Tutwiler Hotel The Alabama Theatre The Angela Davis House The Bad Guy The Berry Project The Bessemer Site The Birmingham Public Library / The Linn - Henley Research Library The Blast Furnace The Blowing Engine Room The Boy Becomes a Man The Cahaba Heart River of Alabama The Cascade The Children's Crusade The Clay Community The Coe House The Defiant One The Depot The Early Mountain Brook Village Area The First Bethel Bombing The Foot Soldiers The Fraternal Hotel Building The Gas System The Good Friday March The Heaviest Corner On Earth The Importance of Being Educated The Iron Man: Vulcan The Little Theater Clark Memorial Theatre Virginia Samford Theatre The Lone Pine Mine The Movement Continues The Movement's Fearless Leader The New Pilgrim Baptist Church / New Pilgrim Baptist Church Timeline The New Strategy The Palm Sunday March The Park Avenue Historical District The Price of Freedom The Push for Fair Housing The Rainbow Viaduct The Right to Vote The Schoolhouse Stand at Alabama The Second Bethel Bombing The Stand for Freedom The Stock Trestle The Tutwiler Hotel / The Tutwiler-Ridgely Rebirth The Working Class & Mass Meetings The Works Progress Administration Title Building Town of Cardiff Trailways Bus Station Trussville Trussville Furnace Trussville, Alabama Tuxedo Junction Union Baptist Church And Cemetery Union Hill Cemetery Union Hill Cemetery, Union Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, Union Hill School United Confederate Veterans United Confederate Veterans United States Pipe and Foundry Company Urban Renewal, Urban Removal Vance Federal Building Vestavia Hills Baptist Church / George Ward 1867-1940 Virgil Allen Howard Votes for Women Vulcan Statue Walker Memorial Church Wallace S. McElwain / Irondale Furnace Ruins Water Cannons Wear Cemetery Williams House Wilson Chapel And Cemetery Wilson's Raiders Woman in Paddy Wagon Zion Memorial Gardens “Spirit of the American Doughboy” “We Love Homewood”

Jefferson County, Alabama, holds a rich and diverse history that dates back to its establishment in 1819. Named after Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, the county was initially settled by Native Americans, including the Cherokee tribe, who inhabited the region prior to European colonization. The early European explorers began arriving in the 16th century, with French explorers being the first to claim the land in the early 18th century.

Jefferson County experienced significant growth and development during the early 19th century, primarily due to the discovery of vast mineral resources in the area. The discovery of iron ore and coal deposits transformed the county into a thriving industrial center. Birmingham, the county seat and the largest city, quickly emerged as a major hub for iron and steel production, earning it the nickname "The Pittsburgh of the South."

The county's industrial boom led to a massive influx of immigrants and laborers from across the United States and around the world, seeking employment opportunities. This influx of diverse cultures and backgrounds fueled the county's cultural growth and diversity. However, rapid industrialization also grappled with labor strikes, civil unrest, and social inequalities, particularly during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Jefferson County played a significant role in the struggle for equal rights, with prominent figures like Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth leading civil rights efforts in Birmingham.

In recent years, Jefferson County has faced challenges related to economic recession and financial crisis. The county underwent the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2011 due to excessive borrowing and mismanagement. However, it has since experienced a slow but steady recovery.

Overall, Jefferson County has evolved from its early Native American roots to become a center of industry, culture, and social change. Its history is a testament to the resilience and determination of the people who have shaped the county and contributed to its ongoing development.

Brief timeline of the history of Jefferson County, Alabama:

1819: Jefferson County is established as one of the original counties in the state of Alabama.
1871: The Birmingham District is discovered, leading to a boom in iron and steel industries.
1873: The city of Birmingham is founded as a result of the industrial growth in the area.
1902: Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Hotel, a landmark in downtown Birmingham, begins.
1909: The Birmingham Barons, a minor league baseball team, is established.
1921: The Vulcan statue, now an iconic symbol of Birmingham, is dedicated.
1937: Birmingham Airport, later renamed Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, opens to the public.
1963: The Birmingham campaign for civil rights takes place, including the infamous bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.
1971: The Jefferson County Courthouse, an architectural landmark, is completed.
2011: Jefferson County files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

This timeline provides a condensed summary of the historical journey of Jefferson County, Alabama.

Jefferson County, Alabama

National Register Listings 180

Historical Markers 335

Brief timeline of the history of Jefferson County, Alabama: