Avondale Park

Postcard showing the wading pool at Avondale Park c. 1911

Avondale Park is a 40-acre wooded park on the slopes of Red Mountain. It overlooks, and is named for, the City of Avondale, which was annexed into Birmingham in 1910.

Originally the park enshrined the natural spring which put the area on the map before Birmingham was built. The property was part of a large grant of land given to two-time Jefferson County Sheriff Abner Killough. He sold it to Peyton King, who built a house next to the spring. King, in turn, sold his holdings to the Avondale Land Company in 1887.

Whether by agreement with King at the time it was purchased, sentiment for preserving open green spaces, or the mere fact that the steep hillside and spring-fed basin would be unsatisfactory for building, the expansive 40 acre park gave Avondale a true recreation spot. Upon Avondale's annexation into Birmingham, it became the city's largest park.

Many landscape improvements, including a nationally-renowned rose garden, were pursued by Mayor George Ward. Over time athletic fields and gravel walkways were added. In 1911 cages were erected for a small menagerie of animals that would later become the Birmingham Zoo. The star attraction was "Miss Fancy", an erstwhile circus elephant purchased by the city.

The Avondale Springs fed a wading pool located where the baseball fields are now. The spring was sealed off in the 1930s.

An Easter egg hunt at Avondale Park. Photograph by Charles Preston courtesy BPL Archives

An amphitheater was constructed for the spectacular pageant in celebration of Birmingham's 50th Anniversary in 1921. That same year the Birmingham City Commission sponsored the construction and operation of a Model Poultry Farm with room for 350 birds. Poultry expert Miles Bradford gave demonstrations to the public and distributed instructional pamphlets encouraging residents to start their own back-yard chicken farms for meat and eggs.

In 1931, a secluded pavilion called "The Villa" was constructed on the hill at the rear of the park. Through the efforts of the Friends of Avondale Park the deteriorating structure was restored in 2006.

From 1969 until the mid 1970s, the park's amphitheater hosted free Sunday afternoon concerts by local bands and the park became known as a hangout for young people, especially those leaning toward counter-cultural ideals and expressions. Occasionally promoters brought touring bands to the park, including a landmark sellout show by the Allman Brothers in 1969.

In the late 1970s, Avondale Park was considered as the site of a handicapped-accessible playground to be jointly developed by the Parks & Recreation Board and UAB. In the end another site was chosen.

In 2008 the "Compound Folk Festival" moved from Hoover to Avondale Park for its third year and changed its name to the Birmingham Folk Festival.

In July 2009 Main Street Birmingham and the Avondale Business Association announced a city-funded $3 million project to renovate the park's amphitheater, playground, athletic fields and restroom facilities.

References

• Brown, J. Ellis (August 1921) "A City Teaches Chicken Raising". New York, New York: Buttenheim Publishing. The American City. Vol. 25. p. 125
• Harrelson, Keith (December 1970) "Freaks Live in Birmingham: They Surely Do!" Birmingham magazine. Vol. 10, No. 12, pp. 36-8
• "Avondale Villa to open soon." (February 8, 2006) Birmingham News
• Haden, Courtney (July 31, 2008) "Friendly folk: Local music lovers get a BFF." Birmingham Weekly
• Thornton, William (July 21, 2009) "Avondale businesses to announce revitalization plan that will start with a $3 million renovation of Avondale Park." Birmingham News

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