Reliance Hotel

The Reliance Hotel operated from 1907 on the upper two floors of a three story commercial building on the northeast corner of Block 54, southeast of the intersection of 5th Avenue North and 26th Street, facing the the Birmingham Terminal Station. The hotel office was entered at 416 26th Street, with stores on the ground floor and fire escapes on the north and south ends of the building. The hotel was furnished with steam heat and electric lighting.

In 1907 the hotel was operated by T. N. Balabonas and J. Papadakis. It offered rooms on the "European plan" (no meals) for $1.00 and up, reduced to $0.75 and up by 1910.

Gus Jebeles purchased the hotel in 1925. The hotel's café became a favorite of railroad workers and the traveling press. He modernized and renamed the restaurant Jeb's Seafood House in the early 1930s. Soon later he relocated that business to 1st Avenue North.