Eva B. Comer Home
The Eva B. Comer Home for Women or Eva Comer Co-Operative Home was a group home for unmarried women. In 1925 it was described as a "Christian home for business girls" under the supervision of the North Alabama Methodist Conference through its Woman's Society of Christian Service. It was located on the southwest corner of Block 9, at 1730 8th Avenue North.
The home served as a supervised residence for young women, mostly from rural areas, who had come to the city to attend business school and to work.
In the early 1950s the main home was connected by a covered walkway to a row of four duplexes on the north end of the lot.
By the mid-1950s, the Comer Home served about 88 young women in a year. The Comer Home was rebuilt on the same site in 1958. The new $300,000 facility included a recreation room, dining room and snack bar. At the time the director was Mrs Felix Jones and the housemother was Mrs Annie Oliver. Oliver's daughter, also named Annie, later served as director.
In the late 1970s the former school building was renovated for use as a home for the Alabama School of Fine Arts. ASFA built a new campus on the adjoining block in the late 1980s. The city constructed the David J. Vann Municipal Justice Center on the western half of the block in 1998, and renovated the former Comer Home as the Birmingham Magistrates Office.
References
- Hornady, John R. (1921) The Book of Birmingham. New York: Dodd & Mead
- "Eva Comer Home Plans Open House (November 16, 1958) The Anniston Star, p. 22
- "Annie Petree Oliver" obituary (February 19, 2015) The Putnam Standard (Putnam, West Virginia), p. 12