Birmingham, Alabama: A Southern City Full Of History
Birmingham, Alabama is one of the most important cities in the history of Alabama
, and frankly, in the United States. Birmingham has been through a lot for a city so young.
Unlike many older cities, Birmingham, now in its one hundred and twenty eighth year, is still in the stages of becoming. Local historians divide the city's history into six epochs.
The first, from the 1830's to the late 1860's, was a time when the area we now know as Birmingham was called Elyton and was just a small pioneer farm settlement. There was no town of any consequence---the great Alabama cities were Mobile, Selma, and Montgomery.
Though local residents fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, little damage was done to the area because, as one Union general wrote in his diary, the area deserved no attack as it was just a "poor, insignificant Southern village." The second period, from about 1870 to 1880, was a time when railroads and land barons built a town that was named Birmingham, after England's industrial giant.
Formally organized in 1871, the new town became a commercial hub, with railroads crisscrossing throughout the community. The new community sprang up, thrived and grew so quickly that many observers said it happened "just like magic."
Soon the nickname "The Magic City" was applied to Birmingham. It also was a time when older Alabama cities began to resent the growth and success of their neighbor to the north.
The city's detractors, and there were many, started referring to the city as "Little Birmy." Their scorn subsided somewhat when the town was nearly wiped out, first by a cholera epidemic and then by economic depression.
The natural abundance of coal, iron, ore, and limestone, however, assured the resurgence of the little boom town, and Birmingham moved into its third epoch with remarkable vitality. Beginning about 1880 and continuing through the Great Depression, this city used Yankee capital and an infusion of labor from former plantations and European emigrants.
The mining and metals industries were the catalyst for other enterprises, from banks to barbershops. But the controlling influences belonged not to local citizens, but to wealthy industrialists from the North.
The fourth distinct period began with the Depression and ran through the late 1950's. During this time of wartime economy and shaky post-war recovery, the city suffered greatly.
The mills kept producing, but not a single major commercial building was built downtown from the 1920's until the early 1960's. The decade of the 1960's and early 1970's was the fifth epoch.
It brought events that would forever change the image of the city. This was the historic era of police dogs and fire hoses turned on Civil Rights demonstrators, of the bombed-out 16th Street Baptist Church.
The city's national reputation was near ruins. The horrors of the 1960's still haunt the city today and have turned a permanent global spotlight on race relations - good and bad - in Birmingham.
But in the mid-1970's, the growing influence and reputation of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the strength of a thriving business/service economy ushered in the sixth epoch. The old magic was back as smart, affluent people associated with UAB and other businesses took the lead in the community.
Commercial construction drastically changed the skyline of the city, making it broader, more spectacular. Affluence and education brought with it more cultural and recreational opportunities.
Birmingham was growing up. The opening of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in 1993 did more to heal the city from within and in the eyes of the nation than any other single event.
With the opening of the Institute, the city was able at last to tell its own story, and by telling, soothe the wounds of the past. Recently Mercedes-Benz opened its first American production facility in nearby Vance, turning out the enormously popular M-Class All-Activity Vehicle.
New major attractions, including a full blown theme park and one of the country's best science museums, have opened. And Birmingham's medical community continues to be recognized worldwide for its contributions to health care and healing.
As you can see, Birmingham has shaped itself and in its own way, our country during its history. It continues to grow, and will always be a major city in the development of the United States.
by: Terry Daniels
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