20 photographs of businesses, schools and theaters online

The Jefferson County (AL) Board of Equalization was responsible for photographing all structures within Jefferson County for the purpose of taxation. BPL's Archives Department is responsible for preserving 1500 boxes of the Board's files (including photographs) covering the years 1938-1977. Twenty of these photographs were recently added to our BPL Digital Collections database. Images include businesses, churches, and schools in Birmingham and Homewood.

Birmingham’s Victorian Bicycle Craze

Bicycles, known colloquially in the nineteenth century as “wheels,” offered a new kind of mobility that many women embraced. While some worried that having women riding about on bicycles would lead to moral decay, bicycle manufactures catered to the new clientele and Victorian era women found freedom on their bikes....(read more)

Newspaper Articles, Photograph and Postcard

(Part of Birmingham Magazine's monthly feature on Birmingham history highlighting items from the Archives’ collections)

Structures in Jefferson County (AL)

The Jefferson County (AL) Board of Equalization was responsible for photographing all structures within Jefferson County for the purpose of taxation. BPL's Archives Department is responsible for preserving 1500 boxes of the Board's files (including photographs) covering the years 1938-1977. Forty-nine of these photographs were recently added to our BPL Digital Collections database. Images include businesses, churches, and schools in downtown Birmingham, Center Point, and Ensley.

Birmingham's Vintage Service Stations

Birmingham's Vintage Service Stations
It seems unlikely that today’s American roadside architecture will ever inspire a sense of nostalgia. Big box discount stores and fast food restaurants are interchangeable from one location to the next. Gas stations, or to be precise, convenience stores, are distinguishable only by the color of the trim on the square, flat buildings. But the builders of gas stations, or to be precise, service stations, once used popular architectural styles and whimsy to catch the eye of passing motorists. More...