Oxmoor Valley
Oxmoor Valley is a large section of Shades Valley, north of Little Shades Mountain and south of Red Mountain, west of Spaulding Gap.
It was the site of the former Oxmoor Furnace which was built in 1863 by a group of investors operating as the Red Mountain Iron and Coal Company to supply iron to the Confederate States of America.
The name "Oxmoor" was chosen at that time by Alabama Central Railroad engineers John T. Milner and Frank Gilmer. Though etymologically an "ox-moor" is simply a moor where oxen graze, the specific use of the name may be a reference to the fictitious estate described in Laurence Sterne's 1759 novel The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy as "a fine, large, whinny, undrained, unimproved common," which Tristam's father, Walter, intended to inclose and farm; or it may recall the name of the 3,000 acre farm south of Louisville, Kentucky acquired by Alexander Scott Bullitt in 1787 and itself named for Sterne's invention.
After the Civil War, Daniel Pratt and James Sloss bought a controlling interest in the company and reorganized it as the Eureka Mining and Transportation Company. Pratt placed his son-in-law, Henry F. DeBardeleben, in charge of the Oxmoor site. DeBardeleben improved and expanded the works in 1873, but those efforts ended with the Panic of 1873. In 1875 the Experimental Coke and Iron Company established the commercial viability of iron made from locally-mined resources. The Oxmoor furnaces were reopened and improved, competing with the Alice Furnaces in Birmingham. The site was re-acquired by the DeBardeleben Coal and Iron Company in 1890, and then sold two years later to the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company. TCI idled the furnaces in 1907, just before being acquired by U. S. Steel. The plant was briefly re-opened during World War I, but finally dismantled in the 1920s.
U.S. Steel continued to hold most of the valley. The Mead Corporation took possession of a substantial portion through its acquisition of the Woodward Iron Co. in 1968. Most of the property was uninhabited, with the exception of a small community at Sand Ridge.
Annexation
The largely uninhabited Oxmoor Valley was targeted for annexation by Birmingham during Mayor David Vann's administration.
The Birmingham City Council passed a resolution on February 4, 1975 describing a 10 square-mile territory to be annexed, for the benefit of the public good. The Jefferson County Probate Court accepted the resolution and scheduled a special election on March 8, 1975. 60 residents of the area voted in favor of the annexation, with 1 against. The Mead Corporation and U.S. Steel filed lawsuits opposing the action, arguing that the legal description of the area was too vague, and that the resolution stating a public purpose was insufficient. On appeal, the Alabama State Supreme Court decided in Birmingham's favor, finding that the land description was sufficient to locate the territory on the ground, and that, "if the municipality acts within its delegated authority, the wisdom or expediency of the annexation is not a concern of the courts."
Planning
The City of Birmingham partnered with the Metropolitan Development Board, Jefferson County, UAB, the City of Bessemer and property owners to develop a land use plan for 7,800 acres of Oxmoor Valley in the 1980s and 1990s.
Initial planning efforts focused on the city's goal of preserving revenue-producing economic activities. Under Mayor Richard Arrington the city acquired parcels along a planned extension of Lakeshore Drive into what is now Lakeshore Parkway for development as industrial parks and distribution centers. The Metropolitan Development Board surveyed large companies about their interests and needs, resulting in sites being specifically developed for use by Bruno's and Parisian for distribution centers.
As part of the development of the Bruno's center at what became Oxmoor Industrial Park, the city was able to annex 2,500 additional acres in Oxmoor Valley which had been owned by the Mead Paper Company before being sold off to Bruno's, Vulcan Lands and SONAT. The MDB continued to market and operate the 425-acre industrial park. UAB and Southern Research participated in the development, opening Southern Research Technologies and the UAB Research Park at Oxmoor.
Soon the potential for residential and commercial development in Oxmoor Valley prompted another planning effort. A renewed partnership of stakeholders hired HOH Associates of Denver, Colorado to produce an Oxmoor Master Plan which divides the valley into "development clusters". The plan was influenced by "New Urbanism", a trend in urban planning that prioritized "traditional" townscapes. The industrial park was made the centerpiece of a proposed "light industrial cluster." UAB's Research Park and a planned USX Corporate Center would anchor a "mixed-use employment cluster." A "village center cluster" would be highlighted by a retail center, a hotel and conference center, and various densities of residential development. A less densely developed "planned mixed-use residential cluster" would include a golf course surrounded by residential development tied together with multi-use trails.
In order to promote the type of development being envisioned, both the City of Birmingham and Jefferson County designated Oxmoor Valley as a "mixed-use zoning overlay district" (MXD) on their respective zoning maps. HOH was hired to draft development guidelines to be applied within the district. An "Oxmoor Development Review Board" made up of interested stakeholders was assembled to coordinate that work. That group tranistioned into an "Oxmoor Steering Committee", which commissioned Brantley Visioneering to coordinate various development activities and infrastructure needs.
The Metropolitan Development Board also lobbied for the creation of a destination golf complex in Oxmoor Valley. They negotiated with U.S. Steel to donate 510 acres of land, for Jefferson County to provide sewer service, and for Retirement Systems of Alabama to develop the 3-course site as the first destination on its Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
In 1998 the Steering Committee unveiled its Oxmoor Village plan for a low-rise mixed-use complex with retail, hotel, conference, office and residential functions ringed by cottage and town home lots.
References
- Wilkins, Joy (September 1999) Oxmoor Valley, Alabama: New Urbanism Arises in Birmingham. Georgia Institute of Technology. Center for Economic Development Services.