It’s amazing to look at the history of Birmingham. The city has its unique qualities, a large dose of Southern charm, and beautiful architecture in old neighborhoods and the business district. However, there is an historical trait that remains in Birmingham, since its founding days in the 1870s: corporate power.
While corporate power is a fad all over the United States these days, it has a unique spin on the city of Birmingham. Since its beginning, the interests of the city have been in the hands of corporate cronies who deal out the money and power. Take for example its original city limits… here is a map of Birmingham in 1885 (the steel factories were excluded from the city limits):
You see, the boundaries on the east and west side of the city are drawn around TCI and Sloss Furnaces. It’s not an small incident, either… They were drawn around the furnaces as a tax shelter to keep the money flowing into the city. TCI, which eventually became U.S. Steel, and Sloss Furnaces were Birmingham’s largest money makers until the Great Depression.
After the Great Depression hit Birmingham, and it was drastically affected, the city leaders decided that other industries should be established in Birmingham in case of another break in industry that would cause such poverty and despair. They began to invest in electricity (Alabama Power), banking (First National Bank, which eventually became AmSouth/Regions), and insurance (Alabama Farmers Alliance or ALFA). These outlets produced massive profits for the city and are still powerful decision makers today. While steel is still produced in Birmingham – after all, it is the Pittsburgh of the South – it is not as thriving of an industry with the introduction of technology in engineering, or in short speak, the absence of manual labor.
Not only does industry have a deciding vote in what does or doesn’t happen in Birmingham, that power is extended to the architecture of the city. In the name of industry and business, numerous historical neighborhoods have been erased from existence with the introduction of interstates, need for space in the old district to encourage growth in the city, and the desire for bigger and better things. Of course, I plan to share more on each of these, but currently, dearest to my heart and interest is the old Birmingham Terminal Station.
The glorious station, established in 1909, was the central hub of Birmingham activity. In fact, the combination of track laid in the city allowed Birmingham to even become a large city. Railroads determined the existence of Birmingham, and the Terminal Station was where social and business interests were met. The building was extravagantly designed by a Southern architect and held stake to many celebrities’ entrances and departures.
But, because of an interest to build a U.S. Highway, which eventually became a desire to build a government building, the Terminal Station was demolished in the interest of business in 1969. Many people blame the city government for its destruction. Thousands of letters were written to the city’s mayor, George Siebels, to save the station for museum interests (especially to house the latest history in Birmingham: the civil rights movement). However, the station wasn’t owned by the city of Birmingham, but by the Birmingham Terminal Company, a subsidiary of the Southern Railways. Because of the decline of the railway industry in the late 1950s and the demand of roadways and automobiles following World War II, Southern Railways didn’t see the need to keep Birmingham as a central city. So, it decided to close the station and have it removed to allow Birmingham to buy the land and develop a government agency.
And, sadly to say, to this day, nothing has since been built above the Fifth Avenue viaduct.
Thanks to B’ham Wiki for the image of the Birmingham Terminal Station in 1909.
Although his French accent was thick, he offered a great perspective of history, from the family side of it all instead of just what the papers say. He explained that Blum's troubles lay in the fact that he was French, socialist, and Jewish. In fact, he was warned by Parliament that his religious background would cause trouble, although he was not religious at all, and his marriage was out of respect to the traditions of his family. Malamoud was funny and charming. My favorite part of the lecture was when he said that the French laugh at the concept of nationalism and consider the idea as offensive… much like the thought of Nazism. He also called the ideology behind civic nationalism ironic. And then he laughed… but he was completely serious.