Zion City
| Zion City | |
 |
Birmingham neighborhoods |
| District(s) | 2, 4 |
|---|---|
| Community | East Lake |
| Population | 225 |
| Area | N/A |
| President | Larry Coleman |
| Meeting site | Brownsville Heights Community Center, (map) |
| Meeting day | 1st Monday |
| Website | |
| Neighborhood map | Zion City |
Zion City is a neighborhood in the East Lake community of Birmingham. It is bounded by Roebuck to the northeast and east, by North East Lake to the southeast and south, Airport Highlands and Brownsville Heights to the west, and Penfield Park to the northwest. Neighborhood landmarks include the First Baptist Church of Zion City, Birmingham Department of Streets and Sanitation, Mt Zion Cemetery and Higgins Cemetery.
The Zion City neighborhood began as a community of former slaves of Obadiah Wood. He granted them freedom and small plots of land in exchange for their pledges to remain loyal to the Baptist Church (before the Civil War Wood's slaves attended Ruhama Baptist Church, sitting in the balcony during services), and to the Masonic Order. Early homesteaders in Zion City included "Shadrick and his wife, Ellen; Julie Wood, Dinah, Sallie, Barney (who was 'Ole Marster' Wood's whipping boss), Benjamin and Sallie Wood, Coy Wood, Pinckney, 'Ole Pink', 'Pomp' Wood, Alfred and Liza." (Moss-1947)
The neighborhood was annexed into Birmingham about 1960. In recent times much southern end of the neighborhood has been bought up by the Birmingham Airport Authority for expansion and noise mitigation.
Gate City is in Birmingham City Council District 2. School age children in the neighborhood attend Robinson Elementary School, Ossie Ware Middle School, and Huffman High School.
Larry Coleman is president of the Zion City Neighborhood Association, which meets on the 1st Monday of each month at the Brownsville Heights Community Center on Airport Road. Alberta Hubbard is vice-president and Irma Hatcher-Martin is secretary.
Neighborhood presidents
- Bertram Orum, 2002-
- Elois Ramsey, 2006-
- Larry Coleman, 2023-current
Demographics
- 2010: 257 (84.8% Black)
- 2020: 225 (77.3% Black)
References
- Moss, Florence Hawkins Wood (1947) Building Birmingham and Jefferson County. Birmingham: Birmingham Printing Company