Smithfield community
Smithfield is one of Birmingham's twenty-three communities in Birmingham's "Community Participation Program, which was drawn up to encourage local political activism and community development. It includes the neighborhoods of College Hills, East Thomas, Enon Ridge, Graymont neighborhood, and Smithfield neighborhood.
Smithfield is named for the "Smithfield" subdivision, developed from the former Joseph Riley Smith plantation by the Smithfield Land Company beginning in the 1880s and annexed into the city of Birmingham in 1909. By the 1920s Smithfield proper was a prominent Black residential neighborhood, a pattern that was enforced by the city's 1926 zoning ordinance. The neighboring Graymont and College Hills subdivisions, also part of the former plantation, were developed separately and remained predominantly white with a few pockets zoned from Black residents. Notably the Smithfield Court and Elyton Village public housing projects were built on opposite sides of Center Street for Black and white families, respectively. That pattern endured until the 1950s when federal courts ruled in a case brought by Arthur Shores that the city could no longer enforce racial zoning.
As black families began to buy homes in the formerly restricted zones, some white residents reacted by moving away from the community and some others instigated violence. A long series of racially-motivated bombings in the area gave rise to the moniker "Dynamite Hill" for the heavily-contested area around Center Street.
Since at least 2020 the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District, the City of Birmingham, and other partners have been advancing plans to redevelop several underutilized sites in the Smithfield community for new housing and community amenities. The city applied for federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's "Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant Program" in 2021 and was awarded $50 million through that program in 2023.
Advisory Committee
The Smithfield Community Advisory Committee represents the community on the Birmingham Citizen's Advisory Board. Adrienne Reynolds is president of the Smithfield community.
References
- Elliot, Debbie (July 6, 2013) "Remembering Birmingham's 'Dynamite Hill' Neighborhood" National Public Radio
- Parker, Illyshia (June 20, 2023) "Rezoning approval marks one step closer to Smithfield redevelopment project." Birmingham Business Journal
- Michaels, Ryan (September 20, 2023) "Smithfield Residents Weigh In on Their Neighborhood’s Transformation." The Birmingham Times