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Birmingham Attractions and Things to See
Birmingham, Alabama is
the biggest city in the state, getting its start just after the
Civil War, when it merged three smaller towns into one city,
eventually annexing more of their smaller villages and towns as
it grew into a railroad transportation and industrial giant,
more emphatically in the areas of iron and steel, railroading
and mining. Until the end of the turbulent 1960s, it would be
the industrial powerhouse of the southern United States, thanks
to the cheap, non-union labor force of the African Americans
that came from the rural areas of the south to work in the steel
mills and blast furnaces, helping it achieve a very competitive
advantage over the more expensive and unionized Midwest and
Northeast. As the 20th century began to ebb, it would begin
diversifying into medical care, banking, college education,
transportation, insurance, telecommunications and electrical
power transmission. It has grown into one of the most
significant business hubs in the southeastern region of the
nation.
During the 1950s and 1960s, it would become the center for civil
rights, led by the local activist, Fred Shuttlesworth and the
charismatic Martin Luther King, Jr. where they would begin the
assault on the Jim Crow system and become the instigator in the
Civil Rights Act of 1964. It would be from the Birmingham jail
that Martin would pen the famous Letter from Birmingham Jail,
and then the horrific bombing that murdered four young African
American girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church.
Its transportation system is one of the finest in the south,
with four interstate highways intersecting the city, outstanding
public transportation services and the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth
International Airport that serves over 3 million visitors a
year.
The entertainment and cultural capital of the state, it houses
many excellent art galleries and the home of the Birmingham
Museum of Art that has grown into the biggest art museum in the
southeastern United States. It is home to the Opera Birmingham,
Alabama Ballet, Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Birmingham
Ballet, it also has the magnificent and historic Alabama
theater, the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham, the Alys
Stephens Center for the Performing Arts, the Wright Center
Concert Hall at Stamford University, the Birmingham-Jefferson
Convention Center that contains a sports and concert area,
theater, exhibition halls and concert hall, the historic Carver
Theater, that houses the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame where many
magnificent jazz classes, concerts and plays are offered with
numerous other events in the historic 4th Avenue District where
the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute sits. The Birmingham
Public Library offers many outstanding programs for both
children and adults, the Verizon Wireless Music Center,
WorkPlay, Fair Park arena and the Sidewalk Moving Picture
Festival.
Besides the marvelous Birmingham Museum of Art, the city has the
Bessemer Hall of History, Alabama Museum of Health Services,
Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, the Arlington Home
and the Southern Museum of Flight. The McWane Science Center
provides a hands-on science display experience, with fabulous
temporary exhibitions and an IMAX theater. The Barber Vintage
Motorsports Museum has the biggest collection of motorcycles in
the world, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, the Iron and Steel
Museum of Alabama at Tannerhill Ironworks Historical State Park
and the famous Talladega Superspeedway International Motorsports
Hall of Fame museum.
The city holds and hosts many outstanding festivals that focus
on films, regional heritage and music that include the Taste of
4th Avenue Jazz Festival, the Birmingham Folk Festival, the
Alabama Bound yearly book and author fair, the yearly Greek
Festival, the Southern Heritage Festival and the Schaeffer Eye
Center Crawfish Boil.
There are many other attractions that can hold and surprise your
interest, like the Railroad Park that opened in 2010, the Kelly
Ingram Park that is next to the 16th Street Baptist Church, the
Birmingham Zoo, the Summit, Vulcan Statue, Red Mountain that
occupies the center of the city and have magnificent panoramic
views, the Aldridge Botanical Gardens, the Splash Beach Water
Park and Magic Adventure theme park in the Alabama Adventure
Theme Park and so much more that is sure to pique your interest
and intellect, with a wonderful climate that is great during the
summer for those on vacation from the north and many exciting
sports venues.