Click image to enlarge. 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.
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