
![]() The Thomas Jefferson Hotel dominates the western skyline of Alabama’s largest city. Known as the “Pride of Birmingham” during its heyday and rising nineteen floors above the ground, this Renaissance Revival building opened a month before the 1929 stock market crash. It has been vacant since 1983, when local health officials declared the old hotel uninhabitable. Thirty years of neglect have taken a toll on the building. Unfortunately, attempts to revitalize it have not yet been successful. The hotel provided lavish accommodations for many celebrities, including Pres. Calvin Coolidge and Pres. Herbert Hoover. Other patrons included entertainers Mickey Rooney, Ethel Merman, George Burns, and Ray Charles. Alabama legends George Wallace and Paul “Bear” Bryant stayed there, too. Today only pigeons, squatters, and occasional urban explorers visit the hotel. Downtown Birmingham’s revival continues to grow with more buildings restored each year. The Thomas Jefferson Hotel is a landmark that can bring excellent opportunities for its owners and the city.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Alabama's Endangered Historic LandmarksEach year since 1994, Alabama Heritage has highlighted threatened historic sites throughout Alabama. The “Places in Peril” list has identified more than 215 imperiled historic resources throughout the state, and is compiled by the Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation. The locations highlight the results of deferred maintenance, perceived obsolescence, development pressures, and lack of funding—forces that now more than ever threaten our cultural legacy. But awareness is a powerful force, too, and can cultivate a renewed determination to be responsible stewards of our heritage. For more information, visit the AHC or the ATHP websites. Alabama Heritage is proud to bring to you a selection of the places designated as perilous. Please keep your comments to information relevant to the featured place in peril. Alabama Heritage reserves the right to delete any comment that we deem inappropriate. Archives
May 2023
|