3rd Avenue North: Difference between revisions

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**** 1933: former location of [[Liggett's Drug Store]] (1929-1937)
**** 1933: former location of [[Liggett's Drug Store]] (1929-1937)


[[File:1981 Empire theatre.jpg|right|thumb|275px|The Empire Theater in 1981]]
* [[20th Street North]] intersection
* [[20th Street North]] intersection
** North side ([[Block 74]])
** North side ([[Block 74]])
*** 2000-2008: [[Watts Building (1927)]], former site of [[Watts Building (1888)]]
*** 2000-2006: [[Watts Building (1927)|Watts Tower]] (built 1927) former offices of [[Southern Natural Gas Company]], former site of [[Watts Building (1888)|Watts Building]] (1888-1926)
**** 2000: former location of [[People's Finance & Thrift]], [[Butler's Shoe Store]]
**** 2000: former location of [[Patterson Cigar Store]] (1929), [[People's Finance & Thrift]], [[Butler's Shoe Store]], [[Russell Stover Candies]] (1964)
**** 2006: former location of [[Rye-Ola]] bottling plant, optician
**** 2002: former location of [[Leo P's]] mens' wear (1929), [[Friendly Eight Barber Shop]] (1964)
**** 2008: building entrance
**** 2004: former location of [[Beltone Hearing Center]] (1964)
*** 2010: former location of [[Britling Cafeteria]] No. 3
**** 2006: former location of [[Rye-Ola]] bottling plant, [[Western Union]] (1929), [[Pryor Optical Dispensary]] (1964)
*** 2012-2014: former location of [[House of Jacobs]] furniture store
*** 2008-2010: former location of [[Britling Cafeteria|Britling Cafeteria No. 3]] (1920s-1960s)
**** 2012: former location of [[Fast-Rialto]], [[Empire Theatre]], [[Acme Theatre]]
*** 2012-2014: former location of [[House of Jacobs]] furniture store, [[Fast-Rialto]], [[Acme Theatre]], [[Empire Theatre]] (1920s-1980s),
**** 2014: former location of [[Morton's Photo Studio]]
**** 2014: former location of [[Morton's Photo Studio]]
*** 2016: [[Goodyear Shoe Hospital]], former location of [[Birmingham Paint, Glass and Wall Paper Company]] and Sherwin-Williams Paint Store
*** 2016: [[Goodyear Shoe Hospital]], former location of [[Birmingham Paint, Glass and Wall Paper Company]] and [[Sherwin-Williams Paint Store]] (1929)
*** 2020: [[Standard Furniture]], former location of [[Molton, Allen & Williams]] real estate, [[Rhodes-Carroll Furniture]], [[Devoe and Reynolds Paint & Paper]]
*** 2018: former location of [[Realty Mortgage Co.]] (1929)
*** 2024: [[Department of Revenue Building]], former location of [[Avondale Building and Loan]]
*** 2020-2022: [[Standard Furniture]], former location of [[Molton, Allen & Williams]] real estate, [[Rhodes-Carroll Furniture]] (1929-1964), [[Devoe & Reynolds Paint & Paper]]
*** 2026-28: [[Title Building]], offices of [[Southpace Properties]], former location of the [[Weather Forecast Office Birmingham|Weather Bureau]] station, the [[Birmingham Sunday School Association]], the [[Silver Pheasant Tea Room]], [[Peddinghaus Studio]], offices of architect [[David O. Whilldin]], [[First Commercial Bank]], [[Safari Cup]], and [[O'Carr's]]. Former location of [[Ryan Real Estate]] and [[Molton Realty Company]]
*** 2024-2026: [[Department of Revenue Building]] (built 1905), originally the [[Massey Business College building]], [[Molton, Allen & Williams]] (1926-2013)
*** 2024½: former location of [[Massey Business College]] (1905-1964)
*** 2026: former location of [[Public Finance Corporation]] (1964)
*** 2028-2030: [[Title Building]] (built 1903), offices of [[Southpace Properties]], former location of [[Title Guarantee Loan & Trust Co.]] (1903-)
**** 2028: former location of [[Avondale Building and Loan]], [[Silver Pheasant Tea Room]], [[Ryan Real Estate]], [[Safari Cup]] (2002-2009), [[O'Carr's]] (2010)
** South side ([[Block 85]])
** South side ([[Block 85]])
*** 2001: [[Urban Studio]], former location of [[Stag Saloon]], [[Porter Clothing Company]], newsstand, [[Shoney's Big Boy]] and [[MedTown Pharmacy]]
*** 2001: [[Urban Studio|Auburn University Urban Studio]], former location of [[Stag Saloon]], [[Patterson Cigar Store]] (1929), [[Shoney's Big Boy]] (1970s) and [[MedTown Pharmacy]] (2005-2010)
*** 2005: former location of [[Selby Shoe Company]]
*** 2005: former location of [[Porter Clothing Company]] (1929), [[Selby Shoe Company]]
*** 2009: former location of [[B. H. Cooper]] furniture store, [[Hooper's Cafe]]
*** 2007: former location of [[Alper's Jewelry]] & [[Badham & Co.]] clothiers (1929), [[Nunn Bush Shoe Store]] (1964)
*** 2011: former location of [[Baptist Book Store]], former gift shop
*** 2009: former location of [[Hooper's Cafe]] (1929), [[B. H. Cooper]] furniture store, [[A. A. Bonds Furniture]] (1964)
*** 2013: former location of [[Lige Loy]] undertaker and [[Dupont Paint Company]]
*** 2011: former location of [[Robert Prowell Stove Co.]] (1929), [[Baptist Book Store]] (1964)
*** 2013: former location of [[Hauger Clothes]] & [[Mitchell's Barber Shop]] (1929), [[Lige Loy]] undertaker, [[Dupont Paint Company]]
*** 2015-2017: [[Eubanks Mercantile building]], former location of [[May & Thomas Hardware Co.]] (1892)
*** 2015-2017: [[Eubanks Mercantile building]], former location of [[May & Thomas Hardware Co.]] (1892)
**** 2015: former location of [[Acme White Lead & Color Works]]
**** 2015: former location of [[Acme White Lead & Color Works]] / [[Acme Quality Paint Co.]] (1929), [[Henderson's & Spivy-Johnson Frame Co.]] (1964)
**** 2017: [[Sojourns]], former location of [[Birmingham Arms and Hardware]], [[Amaro-Spencer Furniture]], [[Wallace Furniture]], [[Hawthorn Gallery]]
**** 2017: [[Sojourns]], former location of [[Birmingham Arms and Hardware]], [[Court Baseball Indoor Ball]] (1929), [[Amaro-Spencer Furniture]], [[Wallace Furniture]], [[McCauley's Furniture]] (1964), [[Hawthorn Gallery]]
*** 2021: [[O'Neill Building]] ([[Reed Books]]), former location of [[Economy Auto Stores]] and [[Jefferson Home Furniture]]
*** 2021: [[O'Neill Building]], home of [[Reed Books]], former location of [[Western Auto Supply Co.]] (1929), [[Economy Auto Stores]], [[Jefferson Home Furniture]]
*** 2021 1/2: former location of [[Phillips-Hendon Company]]
*** 2021½: former location of [[Phillips-Hendon Company]]
*** 2025: [[Massey Building]]
*** 2023: former location of [[Odum Clothing Co.]] (1929), [[Marks-Fitzgerald Furniture]] (1964)
**** 2025: building entrance, former location of [[Moe's Original BBQ]], [[Olivert Levert Realty Co.]]
*** 2025-2031: [[Massey Building]] (built 1925), originally the [[Bankers Bond Building]]
**** 2027: former location of [[Investor's Syndicate]]
**** 2025: building entrance, former location of [[Olivert Levert Realty Co.]], [[Moe's Original BBQ]] (2008-2012)
**** 2029: [[Iberia Bank]], former location of [[Remon's]], a cigar and soda shop, and [[My Brother's Place]] restaurant
**** 2027: former location of [[Anchor Building & Loan]] (1929), [[Investor's Syndicate]], [[Cash Credit Co.]] (1964)
**** 2029: [[Iberia Bank]], former location of [[Patterson's Cigar Store]] (1929), [[My Brother's Place]] restaurant, [[Remon's]] clothing (1970s-2011)
 
* [[21st Street North]] intersection
* [[21st Street North]] intersection
** North side ([[Block 75]])
** North side ([[Block 75]])

Revision as of 18:59, 5 March 2015

3rd Avenue North, looking east from 18th Street in October 1972
3rd Avenue North, looking northeast from 21st Street, c. 1911

Third Avenue North is an east-west street running through downtown Birmingham. The westernmost section by that name ends at Center Street, although the road continues further west as 3rd Avenue West. The easternmost section ends at 88th Street, just west of Roebuck Municipal Golf Course.

Third Avenue is continuous from Center Street to Carraway Boulevard (formerly 26th Street North). At that point, it is interrupted by the 2nd Avenue North off-ramp of the Elton B. Stephens Expressway and railroad tracks. The road is one way eastbound from 9th to 26th Street North. There is a short segment of 3rd on the west side of 28th Street North. The next segment curves from 29th Street northward to line up with 31st Street North across Messer Airport Highway.

The avenue does not appear again eastward until Forest Hills Cemetery next to the I-20/I-59 interchange. At this point, Richard Arrington, Jr. Boulevard North (formerly 10th Avenue North), becomes 3rd Avenue. Third then continues northeast with some gaps, notably at Trotwood Park, I-59, and East Lake Park, to 88th Street.

The two-way portion of 3rd Avenue from Center Street to 9th Avenue is five lanes wide. The one-way portion is four lanes from 9th to 14th Street North and three lanes from 14th to between 24th and 25th Street. At this point, the left lane becomes an on-ramp for the Elton B. Stephens Expressway. Throughout the 1970s and most of the 1980s, this on-ramp was the northernmost point to get on the expressway as it did not connect to I-20/I-59 at that time. Third Avenue continues as two lanes under the expressway to Carraway Boulevard. The rest of the road segments east of here are two lanes as well.

History

The initial commercial expansion on 3rd Avenue took place on the south side of the street during the 1880s between 20th and 21st Streets. Third Avenue was also where the first two county courthouses in Birmingham were built (at 21st Street). The courthouse attracted other development to the intersection where it was located, such as the Title Guaranty Building.

Three stores on the north side of the 1800 block (Block 72), modernized in 1961, were damaged in a major fire on the evening of December 17, 1970.

The first section of 3rd Avenue North to be converted from two-way to one-way (eastbound) traffic was from 14th Street North to Red Mountain Expressway. The one-way section was expanded westward to 9th Street North in 1973 by the Alabama Department of Transportation's TOPICS (Traffic Operations Program to Increase Capacity and Safety) program.

Notable locations

For an alphabetical list of locations, see the 3rd Avenue North category.

Smithfield neighborhood

Fountain Heights

Pantages Theatre in 1945
Parisian in the 1920s
The Lyric Theatre in 1930

Central City

The Farley Building at 3rd & 20th
The Empire Theater in 1981

References

  • White, Marjorie Longenecker, ed. (1980) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide, second edition. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.
  • R.L. Polk & Co. (1919) "R.L. Polk & Co.'s Birmingham City Directory"

External links

3rd Avenue North on Google Maps