1901

1901 was the 30th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• February 23: A rare snowfall brought 5 inches to Birmingham.
• March 25: A series of tornadoes swept through the Birmingham area, killing 16 and destroying or damaging 531 buildings.
• April 17: The Birmingham Railway, Light & Power Company streetcar barn and 3rd Presbyterian Church were destroyed in a fire.
• The town of Adamsville was incorporated for the first time.
• The town of Brighton was incorporated.
• Alabama adopted the Alabama Constitution of 1901
• Birmingham Public Library opened to subscribers.
• The Birmingham Boys Club was founded.
• The Carnival Society held their last Mardi Gras ball in Birmingham.
• The Elite Opera Company began performing at Lakeview Park.
• Frank Holt purchased the property on which the community of Holt grew in Tuscaloosa County.
• A post office was returned to the community of Jefferson, which took the name Kimberly.
• The town of Thorsby was incorporated in Chilton County.
• The community of Westover was established.

Business

• June 13: Birmingham Railway, Light & Power Company officially acquired Consolidated Electric Light Company and the Birmingham Gas Company.
• The Alabama Grocery Company was founded with Sid Lee as president.
• Berney National Bank was absorbed by the First National Bank of Birmingham.
• Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale was created by Sid Lee and chemist Ashby Coleman.
• Dewberry Engraving was founded by J. Ralph Dewberry.
• Development of Glen Iris began.
• William Graves founded the Graves Shale Brick Company.
• Carrie Hill and Mrs J. B. Raulston established an art studio on the top floor of the Commercial Club Building.
• The main office of the J. C. Mayfield Manufacturing Company moved from Birmingham to Nashville.
• U. S. Steel was incorporated by J. P. Morgan.

Education

• Ensley High School was founded, meeting at the Old Bush School.
• Graymont Elementary School opened.
• William Wyman succeeded James Powers as President of the University of Alabama.

Government

• William Brandon became the reading clerk for the 1901 Constitutional Convention.
• Incumbent Mel Drennen defeated businessman Ross Smith in the Birmingham mayoral election.
• William D. Jelks succeeded William J. Samford as Governor of Alabama
• The Jefferson County Sanitary Commission was created.
• Father Thomas Kennedy was appointed pastor of the newly finished St Anthony's Church in Ensley.
• William Wier succeeded C. W. Austin as Birmingham Police Chief

Religion

Shiloh Baptist Church; courtesy BPL Archives

• Francis Brandon succeeded William Blevins as pastor of Trinity Methodist Church (Southside).
• A. J. Dickinson succeeded B. D. Gray as pastor of First Baptist Church of Birmingham.
• E. B. Norton succeeded Eugene Hawkins as pastor of East Lake Methodist Church.
• The Owenton Church was founded.
• Shiloh Baptist Church completed its new, massive sanctuary.
• The Church of Christ group sharing Union Baptist Church moved out.

Sports

• November 15: The Alabama Polytechnic Institute defeated the University of Alabama 17-0 at Tuscaloosa in a still-budding cross-state rivalry.
• The Birmingham Barons joined the newly-formed Southern Association

Individuals

• December 15: Paul Cole joined the Birmingham Police Department.
• Robert Baugh succeeded Henry Milner as president of the Country Club of Birmingham.
• James Bowron resigned from the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company.
• William Elias B. Davis served as president of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
• A. O. Lane succeeded Samuel Ullman as president of the Birmingham Board of Education.
• Willis Milner resigned from his posts at the Elyton Land Company.
• Architect Joseph Turner moved his family to Birmingham.
• Architect William Weston moved to Birmingham.

Stanleigh Malotte

Births

• January 5: Luke Sewell, baseball player
• September 5: Stanleigh Malotte, theater organist
• December 20: Robert Van de Graaff, physicist and inventor
• Harold Blach, retailer
• Mary Fabian, opera soprano

Marriages

• May 31: Miller Reese Hutchison married Martha Jackson Pomeroy in New York.
• December 18: David McLendon married Neva Lillian Davis.
• Morris Newfield to the former Leah Ullman.

Retirements

• Louise Wooster, madam

Deaths

• January 15: Sylvester Daly, iron-worker, saloonkeeper and member of the Birmingham Board of Aldermen
• March 28: William Jemison, Tuscaloosa Times owner and former Mayor of Tuscaloosa

Works

Buildings

Birmingham City Hall, c. 1911

• Avondale Elementary School addition
• East Lake School
• Birmingham City Hall (1901)
• Ensley High­lands Presbyterian Church
• Ensley School
• Graymont Elementary School
• Hillman Hotel
• McElwain Baptist Church (former building)
• Shiloh Baptist Church (former building)
• Spencer Honors House
• St Anthony's Church, Ensley (former building)
• Ullman School
• Westover House

Context

1901 was the first year of the 20th century. Queen Victoria died and the Commonwealth of Australia was founded. Oil was discovered near Beaumont, Texas. William McKinley began his second term as President in January and was assassinated in September. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took office. He caused a backlash by inviting Booker T. Washington to the White House. The first Nobel Prize was awarded. The first trans-Atlantic radio signal was received. Picasso entered his "blue period".

Notable births in 1901 included cartoonist Chic Young, actor Clark Gable, comedian Zeppo Marx, actor Gary Cooper, musician Louis Armstrong, television host Ed Sullivan, and businessman Walt Disney. Notable deaths included Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, composer Giuseppe Verdi, former president Benjamin Harrison, painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and President William McKinley.

1900s

<< 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 >>

Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works