2nd Avenue North
2nd Avenue North (or Second Avenue North, formerly just 2nd Avenue) is an east-west street running through downtown Birmingham. The street is so named from Center Street in the west (where it becomes Tuscaloosa Avenue), continuously through downtown, to 29th Street North, after which it dead ends.
Sections of 2nd Avenue North reappear between 32nd and 35th Streets, between 47th and 52nd Streets, between 53rd and 54th Streets, and again east of Trotwood Park between 71st and 78th Streets. A short stub of 2nd Avenue North runs toward East Lake Park from 80th Street near I-59, then resumes between 85th and 86th Streets near Roebuck.
The area surrounding 2nd and 3rd Avenue North near the Alabama and Lyric Theatres is considered the heart of Birmingham's Theater District. The section between 22nd and 25th Streets is part of the City Center Loft District, utilized for the annual ArtWalk festival.
The area north of 2nd Avenue between 11th and 14th Streets was once known as Baconsides, and was particularly hard hit by the 1873 cholera epidemic. 2nd Avenue North is the setting for the fictional "Olympia Gym" in the novel and film, Stay Hungry.
The section of 2nd Avenue between 20th and 24th Street is part of the Downtown Birmingham Historic District. Until the mid-1980s, Red Mountain Expressway terminated at the 2nd Avenue North offramp.
MAX Transit Route 1 and MAX Transit Route 3 take 2nd Avenue westward to Elyton.
Notable locations
For an alphabetical list of locations, see the 2nd Avenue North category.
Smithfield neighborhood
- 109: Birmingham Fire Station No. 21 (Elyton)
- 631: Dixie Neon
- 717: Collins Automotive
- 818: Real Records
- 830: Metro Auto & Detail
- 900: former location of Tootie's Cabaret
- 901: former location of K. U. Jones veterinary infirmary
Fountain Heights neighborhood
- 1200: Innovation Depot
- 1300: ACME Building (Magic City Motor Scooters)
- Intersection of 16th Street North
- 1600: former location of Papan's Royal Seafood
- 1616: Brother Bryan Mission
- 1630: former location of Playpen toy store
- 1631: Thomas Jefferson Hotel/Cabana Hotel/Leer Tower
- 17th Street intersection
- North side (Block 88)
- 1700: Phoenix Building/Phoenix Lofts
- 1700: former café
- 1702: former location of Birmingham Leather Company
- 1704: former location of a cash register dealer
- 1706: former location of Lamar Insurance, entrance to the building and Phoenix Bowling Center
- 1710: Phoenix Building/Phoenix Lofts (1950 expansion), former location of Jefferson Theatre (later Erlanger Theatre)
- 1710: lofts entrance
- 1716: Jefferson Lofts
- 1722: former location of American Laundry
- former location of Pasquale's
- 1700: Phoenix Building/Phoenix Lofts
- South side (Block 97)
- 1701-1731: surface parking
- 1701: former location of dry cleaner and C. T. Walter's Auto Garage
- 1703: former location of Watt's Garage
- 1705: former auto parking garage
- 1707: former lunch counter and barber shop
- 1709-11: former parking garage
- 1713: former location of Ritz Theatre
- 1721: former location of Johnson & Company Jewelry Store
- 1725: former location of beauty shop
- 1729: former location of Channell Florist
- 1731: former location of drug store
- North side (Block 88)
- 18th Street intersection
- 1801: Loveman's parking deck, former site of United States Court House and Post Office
- 1802: former location of Rumore's Record Rack
- 1805: former location of Excelisor Laundry (sic)
- former location of the New Ideal Department Store
- 1808-10: former location of Ullman Hardware Company
- 1809: former location of the Climax Bar
- 1813: former location of Tennessee Distilling Company
- 1816: former location of the Birmingham Conservatory of Music
- 1818: former location of Cable-Shelby-Burton Piano Co.
- 1821: Platinum of Birmingham
- 1828: former site of Florence Hotel/Louis Saks Clothing Company
Central City neighborhood
- Intersection of 19th Street North (former site of Hudgins' fountain)
- former site of the Klothes Shoppe
- former studios of WBRC-AM
- former location of Holiday's Fine Shoes
- original location of Louis Pizitz Dry Goods Company
- 1900: former location of the Peerless Saloon
- 1901: former site of Hughes Drug Store
- former location of Morton's Photo Studio
- former site of the Alcazar Theater/Capitol Theater
- former site of the Trianon Theater
- former site of the Vaudette Theater
- former site of the Newmar Theatre
- 1905: former location of Cinderella Shoe Store
- 1910: former location of W. T. Grant Company
- 1910 1/2: former location of Shepherd and Scott photography studio
- 1914: former location of Burt's Shoe Store
- 1919: former location of the Galax Theater
- 1925: Pete's Famous Hot Dogs
- 1924: former location of the Caheen Building
- 1925: former location of Loventhal clothing store
- 1928: Roden Block, currently housing Hendon & Huckestein Architects. Former site of Liggett's drug store and soda fountain and Baker's Shoe Store
- 1931: Webb Building, former location of the Dude Saloon
- Intersection of 20th Street North
- former site of Odeon Two Theater
- 2000: former location of A. & A. Ash Jewelers
- 2001: Bromberg's (former site of Drennen Department Store)
- 2003-2005: former location of D. C. Redington's Photographic Studios
- 2008: Garett Building/Singer Building
- 2010: Birmingham Parking Authority Deck 6
- 2013: Meelheim Building, Dobbs Gallery, former site of Sublett Hall
- 2020: former location of Spielberg's Camera Shop and Shoe Center
- 2022: former location of Melba Theater
- 2024: former location of J.C. Marks Liquor Co.
- 2025: Butler's Executive Grooming Lounge
- 2027: former location of Terreson's photo printing and Dollar Shoe Box
- 2027 1/2: former location of Magic City Copying Co.
- 2028: Comer Building/City Federal Building
- 2031: former studio of A. C. Oxford
- Intersection of 21st Street North
- 2101: Florentine Building (Vulcan Loan & Discount), former site of the Jefferson County Bank Building
- 2115-19: Zinszer's Peter, Mammoth Furniture House
- 2117: Offices of Arlington Properties
- Intersection of 22nd Street North
- 2210: Offices of Black & White, former office of Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds
- 2211: former location of Bragon Brothers furnace and tin shop
- 2223-25: former W. S. Brown mercantile building, former site of The Casino theater
- 2226: Athens Building/Athens Flatts
- Intersection of 23rd Street North
- 2301: Mamanoes Grocery Shop (formerly Service Seed and Plant Company and Gypsy Market)
- 2306: What's on 2nd (formerly Gallery 2306, Lamar's Gallery)
- 2308: former location of Shift Workspace
- 2309: Ben Erdreich townhouse
- 2318: Freunde Deutscher Sprache und Kultur
- 2320: 2nd Row (Urban Standard, Faith Skate Supply, Travel Scene, Jason Wallis Photography, Erdreich Architecture)
- 2329: Charm
- 2341: former site of AEC Recycling Center
- Intersection of 24th Street North
- 2409: Space One Eleven
- 2411: Beta Pictoris Gallery
- Intersection of 25th Street North
- passes under Elton B. Stephens Expressway
- Intersection of Carraway Boulevard
- north side: Elton B. Stephens Expressway north off-ramp
- 2601: former location of Nuncie's Music
- East of downtown
- 3420: Thomas School/Jimmie Hale Mission
- 7721: former location of John Ray's Supper Club
- Address unknown: R. H. Roberts' Hardware, former location of Birmingham Art Association