Birmingham is one of Alabama’s major cities. It was founded in 1871 by The Elyton Land Company, which sold lots of land at the planned crossing of the Alabama & Chattanooga and South & North Alabama Railroads. A trading post quickly emerged, and as iron, coal and limestone were available, the basis for steel production was thus present.

The Elyton Land Company had then also planned the site as a future industrial city, and therefore they had given it the name Birmingham after the English metropolis. In the early 1900s, Birmingham was developed with high-rise neighborhoods and tram lines, and after the depression of the 1930s, the city grew again with the increased demand for steel from World War II. In recent decades, the focus has been urban renewal and revitalization of the old center.

Today there is much to see in Birmingham, and you can go for some nice walks in the city center, where Linn Park is a good place to start. The park was established as a center for several public buildings and institutions, some of which was realized. To the west of the park is the city’s town hall, which was designed by Charles McCauley and built in a modern style in 1950.

On the opposite side of the park, you can see the Jefferson County Courthouse, built 1929-1932 in beautiful Art Deco lines. On the north side of the square, you can visit two of the city’s well-known cultural institutions. The Birmingham Museum of Art is one of the largest public art museums in the southeastern United States, and here you can explore a large and varied collection. Next to the museum is the Boutwell Auditorium, which is a multi-purpose hall from the 1920s.

From Linn Park, you can walk south on 20th Street through Birmingham’s downtown, where the city’s modern skyscrapers are located. As a contrast to the high-rise buildings, you can see the Cathedral Church of the Advent, which was built in 1893-1895. If you continue to the intersection with 1st Avenue, you can see four distinctive high-rise buildings, which at the beginning of the 20th century gave the intersection the nickname ‘heaviest corner on Earth’.

The four buildings are located on separate street corners and were constructed as the Woodward Building in 1902, the Brown Marx Building in 1906, the Empire Building in 1909 and the American Trust and Savings Bank Building in 1912. Close to this on 3rd Avenue you can see the iconic Alabama Theatre, that opened in 1927 as Paramount’s Publix Theater chain as the flagship of the Southeastern United States. The cinema’s interior is beautiful and classic for its time when it was a part of Birmingham’s busy theater district.

Kelly Ingram Park is another of Birmingham’s green urban spaces, and here you can see the 16th Street Baptist Church, which was constructed in 1911. The church became particularly famous during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, when it was bombed in 1963. Today, the church is part of Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, which also includes the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The institute tells Birmingham’s contribution to the civil rights struggle, the history of the struggle for rights, etc.

If you walk through downtown to the east, you will come to St Paul’s Cathedral, a Catholic cathedral built in Victorian style and consecrated in 1893. Continuing, you can see the Sloss Furnaces, a monument to Birmingham’s industrial history. The Sloss Furnaces are preserved furnaces for production of pig iron, and they were in use from 1882 to 1971. Today the site with Sloss Furnaces is open as a museum.

In the outskirts of Birmingham there is much to see. South of the center you can go up to Vulcan Park & ​​Museum. Here is the Vulcan statue, which is one of Birmingham’s landmarks. The 17-meter-high statue shows the Roman god of fire and blacksmithing, which has been an important part of the city’s history. The statue was Birmingham’s contribution to the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904, and it was erected at its present site on Red Mountain in 1939, providing a fine view of Birmingham and the surrounding area.

Close to this is the city’s botanical garden and zoo, and if you go further east, you come to the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum, which is the world’s largest motorcycle museum. At the museum, you can see many sports cars and classic cars as well, such as one of the world’s largest collections of cars from the Lotus brand.