Linn's Folly

Linn's Folly refers to the Finnish born Charles Linn’s construction of the three story First National Bank Building at the northeast corner of 1st Avenue North and 20th Street North in 1873 within the Central City neighborhood of the Northside community. At the time, this was the first multi-story commercial building within Birmingham.

Due to the national economic depression within the United States in the early 1870s, the construction of this $36,000 brick edifice was widely criticized and earned the moniker of “Linn’s Folly” locally. Criticism notwithstanding, Linn would have its official public opening on December 31, 1873, as the formal Calico Ball. Over 500 people from across the state were invited and the ball was a great success and is generally regarded as the turning point leading towards Birmingham’s emergence from the depression as a formidable economic power. The Brown Marx Building is now found atop this site.

References

• Jackson, Harvey H. (2000) The WPA Guide to 1930s Alabama Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, pp. 168-169. ISBN 0817310282
• Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce (1976) Century Plus: A Bicentennial Portrait of Birmingham, Alabama 1976 Birmingham: Oxmoor Press, p. 16.