Lane Park

This article is about the Birmingham park. For the proposed development in Mountain Brook, see Lane Parke.

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Lane Park, originally called Red Mountain Park, is a large area on the southern slope of Red Mountain near the western terminus of Highway 280 which currently houses the Birmingham Zoo and Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The park is divided by Cahaba Road and bounded on the southeast by Lane Park Road.

The 200-acre site was purchased by the city of Birmingham in a series of transactions dating from 1889 to 1902. The first purchase was made under mayor A. O. Lane. The park included a few burial sites, associated with "pest houses" in the area, and which dated to 1888. Subsequently, Lane had a section of the site, on the west side of Cahaba Road dedicated in February 1893 as a "Potter's field" or pauper's cemetary. The cemetary, known as Red Mountain Cemetery or "South-Side Cemetery", was used for Jefferson County burials until 1909. S. F. Cunningham, sexton of the cemetary reported in 1905 that it was kept confined to a 6-acre plot on the western edge of the property. Gary Gerlach's extensive documentary research indicates that the cemetery contains 4,711 graves. A smallpox hospital was also built on the park property, just south of a quarry where curb-stones for 1st Avenue North were being obtained.

In 1896 Mayor James Van Hoose proposed a reformatory and work farm be established on the rest of the property. In 1910 a tent city was erected in the area of the property near English Village to be used in the treatment of tuberculosis patients.

On January 16, 1934, the entire 200-acre parcel was dedicated by the City Council, at the request of Mayor George Ward, as a public park, named "Lane Park", to honor Ward's predecessor. His description of the area was published in a contemporary newspaper account: "This tract of land is known to carry a heavy vein of red ore deep under its surface. It is well watered, heavily timbered and picturesque. Its possibilities as Birmingham’s greatest playground and beauty spot are manifold."^1.

WPA

The Works Progress Administration assisted the Birmingham Federation of Garden Clubs in the planting of 5,000 trees and shrubs to create the "Lane Park Arboretum" in 1935. The planting plan was designed by Thomas Brooks.

The WPA also built the Allan Gray Fish Hatcheries in the park, fed by natural springs which provided 325 gallons of water per minute. The WPA provided stock for recreational lakes in the region until the zoo took over the park, at which time the hatchery ponds were used for the display of waterfowl.

An American Legion-MacFadden program developed the park as one of the first recreational parks for the city. Under the direction of Conrad Myrick and James Parks, a number of pavilions were erected from the Hartselle sandstone quarried out of the mountain within the park's borders. The Shades Valley Boys Club, Canterbury Methodist Church, and the city of Homewood all contributed to the park's early development. The Isaak Walton League maintained a native wildlife exhibit in the area of the park which was later dedicated as a public zoo.

Zoo

The park site was expanded in anticipation of the creation of the Birmingham Zoo, which took up 50 acres of the enlarged park. The zoo's first exhibit, "Monkey Island", opened to the public on April 2, 1955. Another 67 1/2 acres was enclosed in 1962 when the Birmingham Botanical Gardens first opened.

References

1. Birmingham Post (January 17, 1934) quoted in Gerlach-2004

• Gerlach, Gary G. (2004) "Interment Records of the Red Mountain Cemetery, 1888-1906". Birmingham Public Library Archives.
• "Lane Park Becomes Recreation Center" (? 1934) Birmingham News--Age-Herald.