1890

The Steiner Building in November 2007, photographed by Wally Argus

1890 was the 19th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• September 20: The trustees of Trinity Methodist Church (Southside) purchased property at 30th Street and Avenue F.
• November: Lakeview Theatre opened in Lakeview Park.
• The Adamsville and Cardiff Post Offices was established.
• A two-story brick school building was built in Avondale.
• Bolton's Crossroads was renamed Coal City.
• Thomas G. Jones became Governor of Alabama.
• Knesseth Israel and Beth-El Cemetery and Wood Family Cemetery were started.
• A. O. Lane was re-elected Mayor of Birmingham after not running in 1888.
• Leeds Academy was founded.
• The William Nabors residence, the first home built in the Birmingham city limits, was demolished.
• Oakman was incorporated.
• Pell City was founded.
• Sharon was renamed Horse Creek.
• Wylam Masonic Lodge was founded.
• Avondale Presbyterian Church was founded.
• Classes for Birmingham High School relocated to the Enslen Building from the Wright Building, partly due to fumes from a steam laundry.

Business

• February 22: Thomas Furnace No. 2 was blown in.
• April: The Birmingham Chronicle ceased publication.
• May: Birmingham Brewing Company began producing beer.
• May 5: The Birmingham Railway & Electric Company was incorporated.
• August 5: Andrew Beard was granted Patent No. 433,847 for his rotary engine invention.
• August 23: Vanderbilt Furnace No. 1 was blown in.
• October 15: William Pettiford founded the Alabama Penny Savings Bank.
• Oliver Chalifoux came to Birmingham to manage the local Chalifoux Department Store.
• Loveman, Joseph, & Loeb moved to a new, large department store on 19th Street North.
• Robertstown No. 1 Furnace, Robertstown No. 2 Furnace, and Little Bell Furnace were blown in.
• Theodore Smith began purchasing land that became the Homewood Central Business District.
• Southern Life & Health Insurance was founded.
• The United Mine Workers of America went on strike against the Cahaba Coal Company.
• William Berney resigned as president of the Bessemer Land and Improvement Company.

Religion

• June 11: Land for South Highland Presbyterian Church was purchased by the congregation.
• November: Sixth Avenue Baptist Church hosted the 23rd session of the Colored Baptist Convention of Alabama.
• G. W. Reed became pastor of East Lake United Methodist Church.
• Thomas Walker became pastor of First Baptist Church of Brighton.
• Wylam Baptist Church was founded.
• The Woman's Mission Societies was renamed as the Woman's Missionary Union.

Works

• "Report on the Cahaba Coal Field" (Geological Survey of Alabama)

Buildings

• Bethlehem Methodist Church
• Blach's building
• Cahaba Pump Station
• Kessler Building
• Loveman, Joseph and Loeb building
• Spring Street Fire House
• Steiner Building
• Taylor Lofts

Individuals

Richard Hawes

• January 1: Walter McAdory married Daisey Crook.
• November 12: Robert A. Morris married Lillian Walker.
• William Elias B. Davis was elected chairman of the American Medical Association's Section on Surgery.
• Martin Eagan joined the Birmingham Police Department.
• William Mailly moved to Alabama.
• J. Thaddeus Mullin became chief of the Birmingham Fire Department.

Births

• March 15: Dizzy Dismukes, baseball player and executive
• June 17: Kirkman O'Neal, industrialist
• July 28: Harry Pembleton, architect
• September 1: Ernie Walker, baseball player
• November 4: Kirk Newell, Auburn football coach

Marriages

• September 18: Joseph Turner to Flora Hathaway

Deaths

• February 11: John Phelan, businessman
• February 28: Richard Hawes, murderer (executed)
• May 4: James Sloss, industrialist
• May 9: Murderer of John Manning (executed)
• October 9: Rube Burrow, train robber
• William McDonald, Birmingham alderman
• John Terry, attorney

Context

In 1890, Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty ballet premiered in St. Petersburg. Nellie Bly completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days. The original version of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde was published in Lippincott's Monthly magazine. Idaho and Wyoming were admitted to the U. S. The first use of the electric chair as a method of execution took place. The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded. Navy defeated Army in the first Army–Navy Game. The Wounded Knee Massacre took place.

Notable births included those of Paul Whiteman, Ho Chi Minh, Stan Laurel, H. P. Lovecraft, Harland "Colonel" Sanders, Agatha Christie, Groucho Marx, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Charles de Gaulle. Deaths in 1890 included those of Vincent van Gogh, King William III of the Netherlands, and Sitting Bull.

1890s

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