19th Street North

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19th Street North is one of the primary north-south streets in downtown Birmingham's business district.

19th Street begins at the northern end of 19th Street South, in a tunnel underneath the railroad tracks of the Railroad Reservation. From there it first crosses Morris Avenue and continues north all the way to 16th Avenue North. There are additional sections of the street in North Birmingham from 21st to 37th Avenue North.

The street serves as the eastern boundary of Birmingham's Civil Rights District between 3rd and 8th Avenue North. It also serves as the border of the Fountain Heights and Central City neighborhoods south of 9th Avenue North and Fountain Heights and Druid Hills north of 9th Avenue.

A 1907 train accident occurred at the intersection of 19th Street and 9th Avenue North. A notable early balloon ascent took place near the intersection with 1st Avenue North in 1891. The street is included on the route of the annual Veterans Day parade.

19th Street was one of the city's earlier "whiteways" to have electric lighting. The lighting was upgraded and extended past 6th Avenue as far as 8th Avenue North in 1945 under the city's contract with the Birmingham Electric Company.

In 1981-1982 major landscaping was done to the first few blocks to designs by architect Pedro Costa. The intent was to create a pedestrian-friendly boulevard to help revitalize languishing commercial activity along the street, but the extended construction period had the unintended effect of further harming business traffic. In 1985 Operation New Birmingham formed a "19th Street Taskforce" to identify specific improvements that could be made to mitigate the problem. Students from Auburn University's landscape architecture and planning programs participated in design charettes to sketch out proposals.

Notable locations

For an alphabetical list of locations, see the 19th Street North category.

Fountain Heights/Central City neighborhood

Morris Avenue intersects

1st Avenue North (U. S. Highway 11) intersects

2nd Avenue North intersects

Birmingham Transit Co. bus on the 200 block of 19th Street North

3rd Avenue North intersects

4th Avenue North intersects

1979 photo of Block 61, looking southwest from the corner of 5th Avenue North and 19th Street

5th Avenue North intersects

6th Avenue North intersects

Park Place intersects (east only)

7th Avenue North intersects (west only)

Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Boulevard intersects

View north on 19th Street from 8th Avenue North in 1892. Mayor A. O. Lane's residence on the left.

Interstate 20/Interstate 59 passes over

Fountain Heights/Druid Hills

North Birmingham

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