Gary Avenue

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1959 view of Gary Avenue

Gary Avenue is a major thoroughfare through downtown Fairfield, part of the street pattern planned by the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company in 1909, and named in honor of Elbert Gary, the first president of TCI's parent company, U.S. Steel.

Gary Avenue runs southwest as a continuation of Avenue E Ensley, which also becomes Lloyd Noland Parkway as it passes below I-20/59. Gary Avenue and Lloyd Noland Parkway split between 40th Street Ensley and 41st Street Ensley, with Gary bending westward and crossing Opossum Creek (in a culvert) before entering Fairfield's business district. The street proceeds southwest, then turns to the south at 47th Street Ensley, terminating at Valley Road / Donald Parkway. Formerly the section of Valley Road continuing to E. J. Oliver Boulevard was also addressed as Gary Avenue.

The Birmingham Railway, Light & Power Company's No. 5 Ensley-Fairfield streetcar line ran down Gary Avenue, and that service continues as MAX Transit Route 5.

Notable addresses

References

  • Polk's Birmingham City Directory (1925) Birmingham, Alabama: R. L. Polk & Co.
  • Polk's Birmingham (Jefferson County, Ala.) City Directory (1935) Richmond, Virginia: R. L. Polk & Co.
  • Polk's Birmingham (Jefferson County, Ala.) City Directory (1946) Richmond, Virginia: R. L. Polk & Co.