Historical Markers in 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”
About Jefferson County
Jefferson County Timeline
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.
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.
Jefferson County Timeline
This timeline provides a glimpse into the major events and milestones that have shaped 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.