1910

Opening day at Rickwood Field

1910 was the 39th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

Motorists on a Good Roads Tour pose at Lone Pine Gap in 1910

1910 "Shorpy Higginbotham" photograph by Lewis Hine

• January 1: The Greater Birmingham annexation increased the city's area from 3 to 48 square miles and more than doubled the population.
• March: Construction of "model industrial city" Corey was begun.
• April 20: 40 miners were killed in the 1910 Mulga Mine explosion.
• May 5: 90 miners were killed in the 1910 Palos No. 3 Mine explosion.
• June 20: Birmingham voters approved moving from a Mayor-Aldermen form of government to a three-member Birmingham City Commission.
• June 30: Lipscomb was incorporated.
• August 20: John L. White's Great Alabama Minstrels were the first African-Americans to perform at East Lake Park.
• November 3: Five miners were killed in the 1910 Yolande No. 1 Mine explosion.
• November 14: Eugene Ely became the first to fly an airplane off of the deck of a ship, the USS Birmingham (CL-2).
• November 22–23: A "Census Jubilee" was celebrated.
• November 25: 3 miners were killed in the 1910 Banner Mine explosion.
• The Birmingham Dental and Birmingham Medical Colleges merged to become Birmingham Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical College.
• The Birmingham Humane Society was incorporated.
• Culpepper Exum became Mayor of Birmingham.
• The Edgewater site was established by TCI.
• Lewis Hine photographed 13-year-old greaser Henry Higginbotham for a report on child labor conditions in Alabama.
• Industrial High School moved to the Lane's Auditorium building.
• Italians were Birmingham's largest single ethnic group.
• A tent city was erected in what would later be Lane Park for the care of tuberculosis patients.
• M. J. Sharp became Mayor of Leeds.
• Construction of Norwood Boulevard began.

Business

• June: The damming of Shades Creek and creation of Birmingham Speedway around the resulting lake were proposed.
• June 22: The original location of Louis Saks Clothiers was heavily damaged by fire.
• July 26: The Birmingham, Selma & Pensacola Railroad was incorporated.
• November 1: The Martin Biscuit Company was incorporated.
• December 10: The First Bank of Corey opened for business.
• James Bowron became vice president for finance for the Southern Iron & Steel Company.
• The Hood Building was converted to the 100-room Bencor Hotel.
• F. O. Harris founded Harris-Lovelady Furniture.
• Ingalls Iron Works was established.
• Lollar's Cameras was founded.
• Victor Hanson became publisher and Franklin Glass became editor of The Birmingham News.
• The Virginia was refurbished and renamed The Shubert Theater.
• The South Ensley streetcar line was extended to Corey.
• South Highlands Infirmary was established.
• Raymond Rochell founded the Jefferson County Bottling Works.
• J. E. Moody, Jr founded the Ozo-Olo Company.
• J. Frank Knox opened his Knox Portrait Studio.
• The Celery-Cola Company was forced out of business after a lawsuit from the Food and Drug Administration.
• The Gleeola Company was founded by J. C. Wells.
• Prudential Savings Bank was founded.
• David O. Whilldin and Bem Price formed the architecture partnership of Whilldin & Price.
• John Steinbauer opened the Steinbauer Grocery on 50th Street South in Woodlawn.

Religion

• Cecil V. Cook and then Willis W. Lee became pastor of Ruhama Baptist Church.
• H. C. Howard became pastor of Highlands United Methodist Church.
• Moses Joseph became president of Temple Emanu-El.
• The St Elias Maronite Church parish was established.

Sports

Harry Coveleski in 1910

• July 17: Birmingham Barons pitcher Harry Coveleski threw a no-hitter through 9 innings, but the Barons lost in extra innings.
• July 31: Birmingham Barons pitcher Harry Coveleski threw another no-hitter.
• August 18: The Birmingham Barons played their first game at the newly built Rickwood Field.
• The Birmingham Giants moved to Indiana, becoming the West Baden Sprudels.
• J. C. Donnelly became head football coach of the Howard Bulldogs.

Individuals

• William Bankhead was appointed solicitor of the 14th Judicial Circuit of Alabama.
• George Bodeker became Chief of the Birmingham Police Department.
• Clarence Going began teaching at Phillips High School.
• J. A. Morgan became principal of Moore School.
• Erskine Ramsay was appointed Alabama State Mine Examiner.
• R. E. Tidwell became principal of Ensley High School.

Births

• February 24: Fred Sington, athlete and businessman
• May 10: Louis Buck, radio announcer
• June 29: Stead Baxendale, realtor
• September 4: Jere King, Jr, historian
• September 24: Fred "Dixie" Walker, baseball player
• September 25: Shug Jordan, Auburn football coach
• October 23: Miriam Norville, clothing designer
• November 13: William Bradford Huie, writer and journalist
• December 29: Gump Ariail, football player and soldier
• Joseph Cunningham, physician

Graduations

• Chauncey Sparks, law degree from Mercer University

Marriages

• Henry Batterton married the former Pauline Hopkins.
• William Hoover married the former Bertha Christian.

Deaths

William H. Morris

• January 12: Rufus Rhodes, founder of The Birmingham News
• January 28: Edward Erswell, carpenter and undertaker
• June 19: Isaac Hochstadter, liquor dealer and former Alderman.
• June 20: William H. Morris, businessman and former Mayor of Birmingham
• September 12: Frank O'Brien, Mayor of Birmingham (in office)
• September 24: Charles Wheelock, architect
• December 6: Henry F. DeBardeleben, industrialist and founder of Bessemer
• December 25: Ollie Battle, Jefferson County deputy
• Helen Milner, wife of Henry Milner
• Moses Moore, Confederate veteran
• William Ward, Confederate veteran and attorney

Works

Books

• Armes, Ethel (1910) The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama. Birmingham: Birmingham Chamber of Commerce

Buildings

• Alexander Dearborn residence at Anderson Place
• Eugene Enslen residence
• Hale House
• F. D. McArthur School
• Morrow House
• Pratt Elementary School
• Rickwood Field
• Charles Rice residence
• Rosedale Pump House
• Sixth Avenue Baptist Church
• Studio Arts Building
• Thomas School
• Thompson House

See Also

• 1910 Birmingham Barons
• 1910 Birmingham mayoral election

Context

In 1910, Halley's Comet visited the inner solar system. George V became King of the United Kingdom. The Union of South Africa was created. African-American boxer Jack Johnson defeated caucasian boxer James J. Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match, sparking race riots across the United States.

Notable births in 1910 included those of William Shockley, Joan Bennett, David Niven, Claire Trevor, Artie Shaw, Robert Cummings, Jacques Cousteau, Gloria Stuart, William Hanna, Jane Wyatt, Mother Teresa, and Bonnie Parker. Notable deaths included those of Mark Twain, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Robert Koch, O. Henry, Florence Nightingale, Jean Henri Dunant, and Leo Tolstoy.

1910s

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