Terry Building

Hughes Drug Store (later the Terry Building) was an early three-story commercial building located on the southeast corner of 2nd Avenue North and 19th Street. The first floor housed business and law offices, primarily the drug store of Jack Adams and Arthur Moody. The second floor housed Birmingham's first telephone exchange, which was established on May 8, 1882 with 26 subscribers. Within a few months, the phone service expanded to the third floor, where a 500-line switchboard was installed.

The building received the name "Hughes Drug Store" due to housing the drug store of Doctor G. W. Hughes, but was later named for Birmingham's first Superintendent of Education, founder of Birmingham City Schools, and attorney John Terry.

The site is currently used as a surface parking lot.

References

• Blake, T. Harry (1973) Birmingham Since 1885. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society
• Satterfield, Carolyn Green (1976) Historic Sites of Jefferson County, Alabama. Birmingham: Jefferson County Historical Commission/Gray Printing Company