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'''Highland Avenue''' is an east-west street that winds through the [[bowl park]] area of [[Southside]] [[Birmingham]].  The western end begins at the intersection of [[12th Avenue South|12th Avenue]] and [[20th Street South]] in [[Five Points South]].  It follows roughly the path of 12th Avenue with the exception of the areas of [[Rhodes Park]] and [[Caldwell Park]].  Highland Avenue is home to many apartments, condominiums, office buildings, restaurants and bars as it winds it way approximately 14 blocks to the [[Highland Golf Course]], where it takes a sharp northward turn.  Its eastern end is at the intersection of [[Clairmont Avenue]] in the [[Lakeview District]].
'''Highland Avenue''' is an east-west street that winds for about two miles along the northern slope of [[Red Mountain]] in [[Birmingham]]'s [[South Highlands]].


Highland Avenue hosts numerous events, the largest of which is the annual [[Do Dah Day]] parade and festival.
==History==
Highland Avenue was constructed by the [[Elyton Land Company]] in order to provide access to its 1,500-acre wooded property on South Highlands, which it wished to develop as residential estates. In [[1884]], with the company celebrating the payment of its first issue of bonds, secretary-treasurer and chief engineer [[Willis Milner]] suggested that the time was ripe to turn attention to the property, which was still "unbroken primeval forest", protected from timber poaching by agents of the company.


==Locations==
Given charge of the project, Milner planned a mule-drawn passenger railway beginning at [[1st Avenue North]] and [[19th Street North|19th Street]] and turning south along [[22nd Street South|22nd Street]] and branching east and west at [[5th Avenue South]]. The two end-points, after extension, were at [[Five Points South]] and the intersection of [[29th Street South|29th Street]] and [[3rd Avenue South]]. Milner then planned, with a detailed topographic survey, the winding thoroughfare that would complete the loop.
* 2000: Ruby Tuesday's. Proposed location of [[Renaissance Plaza]]
* 2001: [[Shepherd-Sloss building]], [[Bell Bottoms]], [[Twist & Shout]] (former home of [[Cadillac Café]], [[Louie Louie]], [[Dugan's]], [[Little New Orleans]], [[Fletcher's]], and the [[Barber's clock]])
* 2011: [[William Hassinger residence]]
* 2035: [[South Highland Presbyterian Church]]
* 2040: [[Highland Manor]] (formerly Sheraton Motor Inn with Guv'nor's Grill/Top of 21; former site of [[Highland Town Hall]])
* 2100: [[Temple Emanu-El]]
* 2146: former location of [[WAPI-AM]] & [[WAPI-FM]], previously [[Saxon Dance Studio]]
* 2151: former location of [[Mammy's Pancakes]] and [[New Tokyo]]
* 2170: [[Alamerica Bank]]
* 2179: [[Temple Beth-El]]


* 2201: former [[Birmingham Police Department South Precinct]]
The right of way was set at 100 feet, with no more than 3% slope to accommodate horse-drawn carriages and trolleys. Care was taken to maximize attractive lot frontages wherever possible, and to provide parks in low areas where building would be impractical. [[Henry M. Caldwell]], president of the Elyton Company, suggested the name "Highland Avenue". Milner's plan was located on the ground by his cousin, [[John A. Milner]] by [[April 1]], [[1884]].
* 2220: [[Veranda on Highland]] (formerly [[The Pillars]] and [[Merritt House]])
* 2225: [[Highland Tower]] (former home of [[Highland Booksmith]], [[Highland Coffee]], and the offices of ''[[Birmingham Weekly]]'')
* 2240: [[Bottega Favorita]] ([[Bottega Restaurant]] and [[Bottega Café]], formerly [[Gus Mayer]])


* 2311: [[Crescent Building]] ([[Brice Building Company]], [[Sirote & Permutt]], [[Koch Aesthetic Dentistry]])
Immediately grading and construction was begun on a 25-foot wide roadbed in the center of the right-of-way. When that was completed, during the summer, the artificial lake at Lakeview was created by piping three springs into an excavated basin within the park's boundaries. [[Lakeview Park]] was planned as a resort to attract Birmingham residents up into the hillside for pleasure, and to inspect the prospective home sites along the way.


* 2401: [[Highland Crescent]], former site of [[John Carroll Catholic High School]]
The construction of the rail line itself had to wait for the [[Alabama Legislature]]'s approval of a change in the company charter. In the mean time, the unpaved roadbed was opened to traffic. With the approval of the legislature, construction of the [[Highland Avenue Railroad]] began in earnest in [[1885]].


* 2507: [[First Lutheran Church]]
Soon later it was decided to replace the horse-drawn carriages with heavier, steam-powered dummies. The old 16-pound rails were pulled up and replaced with 40-pound rails to accommodate them. The result, which opened on [[June 26]], [[1886]] was the first dummy line in the South, with trains leaving every 15 minutes, alternating directions on the one-hour round-trip loop.


* 2600: [[2600 Highland]], formerly the [[Otto Marx residence]] and [[Mary Lewis Convalescent Center]]
Part of Highland Avenue was incorporated into the town of [[Highland]] in [[1887]]. That section was regraded and curbed by the town. When the City of [[Birmingham]] annexed the entire area in [[1893]], the city graded and curbed the remainder of the avenue.
* 2608: [[The Store on Highland]]


* 2731: [[George Harris residence]]
==Route==
* 2733: [[Robert Warner residence]]
The western end of Highland Avenue begins at the intersection of [[12th Avenue South|12th Avenue]] and [[20th Street South]] in [[Five Points South]].  It follows roughly the path of 12th Avenue with the exception of the areas of [[Rhodes Park]] and [[Caldwell Park]].  Highland Avenue is home to many apartments, condominiums, office buildings, restaurants and bars as it winds it way approximately 14 blocks to the [[Highland Golf Course]], where it takes a sharp northward turn.  Its eastern end is at the intersection of [[Clairmont Avenue]] in the [[Lakeview District]].
* 2737: [[Enslen residence]], [[Trimmier Law Firm]]


* 2827: former location of [[Strawberry Fields]]
Highland Avenue hosts numerous events, the largest of which is the annual [[Do Dah Day]] parade and festival.


* 2908: [[Women's Club House]]
==Locations==
* 2909: [[Sheraton Apartments]]
** [[Terrace Court]]
* 2921: [[ROJO]], formerly [[Highland Market]]
* Intersection with [[20th Street South]]/[[12th Avenue South]]
** 2000: Ruby Tuesday's. (formerly proposed location for [[Renaissance Plaza]])
** 2001-11: [[Shepherd-Sloss building]]
** 2012: [[William Hassinger residence]]
** 2035: [[South Highland Presbyterian Church]]
** 2040: [[Highland Manor]] (formerly [[Sheraton Motor Inn]] <!--with Guv'nor's Grill/Top of 21-->, [[Highland Town Hall]])
* Intersection with [[21st Street South]]/[[Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard South]]
** 2100: [[Temple Emanu-El]]
** 2146: former location of [[WAPI-AM]] & [[WAPI-FM]], previously [[Saxon Dance Studio]]
** 2151: former location of [[Mammy's Pancakes]] and [[New Tokyo]]
* Intersection with [[21st Place South]]
** 2170: [[Alamerica Bank]]
** 2179: [[Temple Beth-El]]
* Intersection with [[Arlington Avenue]]/[[21st Way South]]
** 2201: former [[Birmingham Police Department South Precinct]]
** 2220: [[Veranda on Highland]] (formerly [[The Pillars]] and [[Merritt House]])
* Intersection with [[11th Court South]]
* Intersection with [[22nd Street South]]/southbound [[Red Mountain Expressway]] onramp
** 2225: [[Highland Tower]] (former home of [[Highland Booksmith]], [[Highland Coffee]], and the offices of ''[[Birmingham Weekly]]'')
** 2240: [[Bottega Favorita]] ([[Bottega Restaurant]] and [[Bottega Café]], formerly [[Gus Mayer]])
** Intersection with [[23rd Street South]]
** 2311: [[Crescent Building]] ([[Brice Building Company]], [[Sirote & Permutt]], [[Koch Aesthetic Dentistry]])
* [[Caldwell Park]]
** 2401: [[Highland Crescent]], former site of [[John Carroll Catholic High School]]
* Intersection with [[Milner Crescent]]/[[Highland Crescent]]
** 2507: [[First Lutheran Church]]
* Intersection with [[Milner Street]]/[[Caldwell Avenue]]
* Intersection with [[26th Street South]]/[[Niazuma Avenue]]
** 2600: [[2600 Highland]], formerly the [[Otto Marx residence]] and [[Mary Lewis Convalescent Center]]
** 2608: [[The Store on Highland]]
* [[Rhodes Park]]
* Intersection with [[27th Avenue South]]
* Intersection with [[27th Place South]]
** 2731: [[George Harris residence]]
** 2733: [[Robert Warner residence]]
** 2737: [[Enslen residence]], [[Trimmier Law Firm]]
* Intersection with [[28th Street South]]
* Intersection with [[28th Place South]]
** 2827: former location of [[Strawberry Fields]]
* Intersection with [[29th Street South]]
** 2908: [[Women's Club House]]
** 2909: [[Sheraton Apartments]]
* Intersection with [[30th Place South]]
* [[Rushton Park]]
** 2921: [[ROJO]], formerly [[Highland Market]]
* Intersection with [[30th Street South]]
** 3001: [[Avalon Condominiums]]
* Intersection with [[31st Street South]] (joined briefly)
* Intersection with [[Cliff Road]]
** [[Independent Presbyterian Church]]
* Intersection with [[32nd Street South]]
* Intersection with [[33rd Street South]]/[[12th Avenue South]]/[[Highland Drive]]
* [[Highland Golf Club]] (former site of [[Lakeview Park]])
* Intersection with [[Clairmont Avenue]]


* 3001: [[Avalon Condominiums]]
==References==
* Milner, Willis J. (1911) "History of Highland Avenue". typescript. Birmingham Public Library Archives., rpt. in Johns-1979
* Johns, Lyn (July 1979) "Early Highland Avenue and the Magic City, 1884-1893 Including Willis J. Milner's 'History of Highland Avenue'." ''Journal of the Birmingham Historical Society''. Vol. VI, No. 2, pp. 33-43


==External links==
==External links==
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[[Category:Highland Avenue|*]]
[[Category:Highland Avenue|*]]
{{stub}}
[[Category:1884 buildings]]

Revision as of 21:17, 21 November 2007

Highland Avenue is an east-west street that winds for about two miles along the northern slope of Red Mountain in Birmingham's South Highlands.

History

Highland Avenue was constructed by the Elyton Land Company in order to provide access to its 1,500-acre wooded property on South Highlands, which it wished to develop as residential estates. In 1884, with the company celebrating the payment of its first issue of bonds, secretary-treasurer and chief engineer Willis Milner suggested that the time was ripe to turn attention to the property, which was still "unbroken primeval forest", protected from timber poaching by agents of the company.

Given charge of the project, Milner planned a mule-drawn passenger railway beginning at 1st Avenue North and 19th Street and turning south along 22nd Street and branching east and west at 5th Avenue South. The two end-points, after extension, were at Five Points South and the intersection of 29th Street and 3rd Avenue South. Milner then planned, with a detailed topographic survey, the winding thoroughfare that would complete the loop.

The right of way was set at 100 feet, with no more than 3% slope to accommodate horse-drawn carriages and trolleys. Care was taken to maximize attractive lot frontages wherever possible, and to provide parks in low areas where building would be impractical. Henry M. Caldwell, president of the Elyton Company, suggested the name "Highland Avenue". Milner's plan was located on the ground by his cousin, John A. Milner by April 1, 1884.

Immediately grading and construction was begun on a 25-foot wide roadbed in the center of the right-of-way. When that was completed, during the summer, the artificial lake at Lakeview was created by piping three springs into an excavated basin within the park's boundaries. Lakeview Park was planned as a resort to attract Birmingham residents up into the hillside for pleasure, and to inspect the prospective home sites along the way.

The construction of the rail line itself had to wait for the Alabama Legislature's approval of a change in the company charter. In the mean time, the unpaved roadbed was opened to traffic. With the approval of the legislature, construction of the Highland Avenue Railroad began in earnest in 1885.

Soon later it was decided to replace the horse-drawn carriages with heavier, steam-powered dummies. The old 16-pound rails were pulled up and replaced with 40-pound rails to accommodate them. The result, which opened on June 26, 1886 was the first dummy line in the South, with trains leaving every 15 minutes, alternating directions on the one-hour round-trip loop.

Part of Highland Avenue was incorporated into the town of Highland in 1887. That section was regraded and curbed by the town. When the City of Birmingham annexed the entire area in 1893, the city graded and curbed the remainder of the avenue.

Route

The western end of Highland Avenue begins at the intersection of 12th Avenue and 20th Street South in Five Points South. It follows roughly the path of 12th Avenue with the exception of the areas of Rhodes Park and Caldwell Park. Highland Avenue is home to many apartments, condominiums, office buildings, restaurants and bars as it winds it way approximately 14 blocks to the Highland Golf Course, where it takes a sharp northward turn. Its eastern end is at the intersection of Clairmont Avenue in the Lakeview District.

Highland Avenue hosts numerous events, the largest of which is the annual Do Dah Day parade and festival.

Locations

References

  • Milner, Willis J. (1911) "History of Highland Avenue". typescript. Birmingham Public Library Archives., rpt. in Johns-1979
  • Johns, Lyn (July 1979) "Early Highland Avenue and the Magic City, 1884-1893 Including Willis J. Milner's 'History of Highland Avenue'." Journal of the Birmingham Historical Society. Vol. VI, No. 2, pp. 33-43

External links

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