Raden building

The Morris Raden building (also called the Eyer-Raden building or Eyer-Raiden building) is a 3-story commercial building constructed by Morris Raden at the southwest corner of 22nd Street and 2nd Avenue South.

When it was built around 1895, Block 137 was otherwise occupied only by modest dwellings. The 50-foot by 100-foot brick building has a moulded metal cornice interrupted by a small gable above the stair entrance on 22nd Street. The cornice is supported on engaged piers and a corbeled band. The tall windows are topped by projecting arches tops and connected by a continuous rowlock sill. The shops feature full-width glazed transoms.

The ground floor of the building was divided into stores. Daniel Eyer opened a short-lived grocery store in the corner spot of the new building, but the other stores remained largely vacant for several years. The upper levels were operated as a boarding or rooming house well into the 1950s.

Over time the Raden building was absorbed into what became Birmingham's "Automotive District", booming with auto sales, parts and service businesses. The building is now recognized as a "contributing structure" to the Automotive Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Developer Ward Neely of Neely Construction began redeveloping the vacant building in 2020. During demolition, crews uncovered artifacts and inscriptions dating to the building's former use as a rooming house.

Tenants

• 22nd Street South
  • 200: former location of Daniel Eyer grocery (1896-1899), W. E. Bower saloon (1904-1910), Excelsior Bakery (1914–1918), Busy Bee Café (mid 1920s–early 1930s), Southside Paint & Supply Co. (1940–1950)
  • 202–206: former location of Refrigeration Sales & Service (1940), Maske & Kent Refrigeration Co. (1941)
  • 204-208: former location of Walter White Auto Parts (1957-2007)
    • 204-206: former location of electric shop (1957)
      • 204: former location of Daniel Eyer saloon (1899), James J. Jones barber shop (1907)
        • 204½: former location of Mary Raden boarding house (1896), Louise Curtis boarding house (1899), Tony Sautter salesman (1910), Southside Rooming House (Guy Masterson 1940–1957)
      • 206: former location of Birmingham Automotive Service (2007), Southern Radiator & Cooling (2016–2019)
    • 208: former location of Henderson Brewing Co. (1900), DeWolfe Co. carpenters (Fred DeWolfe 1914), Federal-Mogul Service bearings (1941)

References

• "Birmingham developer uncovers brothel history at old hotel in Southside." (February 13, 2020) WVTM.com