3rd Avenue North: Difference between revisions

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** 1429-1431: former location of [[Canon Tire Co.]] (1964)
** 1429-1431: former location of [[Canon Tire Co.]] (1964)
* [[15th Street North]] intersection
* [[15th Street North]] intersection
** 1500: former location of [[Nexus]] boutique and head shop
** 1500: former location of [[Edwards Chevrolet]] warehouse (1964), [[Nexus]] boutique and head shop
** 1501: [[Firehouse Shelter]] (former [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 6]])
** 1501: [[Firehouse Shelter]], formerly [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 6]] (built 1905), [[Birmingham Amateur Radio Club]], [[Birmingham Police Motor Pen]] garage, [[Civil Defense Rescue Squad]] storage (1964)
** 1502: former location of [[Diplomat Printing & Letter Co.]] (1964)
** 1504-1506: former location of [[Auto Park Inc.]] parking lot (1964)
** 1509: [[Rex's Auto Service]]
** 1513-1515: former location of [[Alabama Leather Co.]] (1964)
** 1517: former location of [[Erie Leather Co.]] wholesale (1964)
** 1522: former location of [[Colonial Realty & Insurance]] (1964)
** 1526-1528: former location of [[Modern Sign Co.]] (1964)
** 1530: former location of [[Service Insurance Co.]] district office (1964)
* [[16th Street North]] intersection
* [[16th Street North]] intersection
** North side ([[Block 70]])
** North side ([[Block 70]])
*** 1600: former location of [[Modern Sign Company]]
*** 1600: [[Your Flower Shop]], former location of [[Shoemaker's Standard Oil Service Station]] (1964)
***1620: Former location of [[Adamson Ford|Adamson Motor Car Company]] (Ford)
*** 1602: former location of [[Management Controls]] bookkeeping service (1964)
*** 1612: [[Amani Raha]]
*** 1608: former location of [[Empire Leather Co.]] (1964)
*** 1630: former location of the [[Mecca Hotel]] (candy shop and cafe)
*** 1610: former location of [[Lovett's Clothing & Furniture]] (1964)
*** 1612-1614:  former location of [[H. J. Sparks Mercantile Co.]] (1964)
**** 1612: [[Amani Raha]]
*** 1616: former location of [[Birmingham Leather Co.]] (1964)
*** 1618: [[Etheridge Brothers Barber Shop]], former location of [[Community Blood & Plasma Services]] (1964)
*** 1620: former location of [[Adamson Ford|Adamson Motor Car Company]], [[Thomas Garage Co.]] (1929), [[Hendrix-Brooks Furniture Co.]] (1964)
*** 1622: former location of [[Bagley's Birmingham Gas Appliance]] (1929)
*** 1624: former location of [[John's Photo Service]] (1964)
*** 1626: former location of [[Sun Finance Co.]] (1964)
*** 1628: former location of [[LaDame Laundry & Cleaners]] (1964)
*** 1630: [[Nelson Brother's Cafe]], former location of [[Edward Hotel]], [[D. & H. Drugs]] (1929) [[Mecca Hotel]], candy shop and cafe (1931), [[Blue Ribbon Shoe Shop]] repairs (1964)
** South side ([[Block 89]])
** South side ([[Block 89]])
*** 1601: [[Etheridge Brothers Barber & Style]] No. 1
*** 1601: [[Etheridge Brothers Barber & Style]] No. 1, former location of [[O. K. Discount Co.]] auto loans (1964)
*** 1631: former auto storage garage
*** 1615: former location of [[Uncle Bob's Motor & Transmission Service]] (1964)
*** 1617-1621: former location of [[Auto Park Inc.]] parking lot (1964)
**** 1617: [[Security Engineers Inc.]]
*** 1625: former location of [[Birmingham Auto Laundry Co.]] (1929),
*** 1631: former location of [[Bryant Auto Garage]] (1929), [[Hendon & Co.]] auto parking, [[Car Park Inc.]] office, [[Park Inc.]] auto parking (1964)
* [[17th Street North]] intersection
* [[17th Street North]] intersection
** North side ([[Block 71]])
** North side ([[Block 71]])
*** 1700: [[Citizens Trust Bank]], former location of [[Birmingham Auditorium]], [[Bijou Theatre]], [[Loew's Bijou]]/[[Leow's Vaudeville]], [[Pantages Theatre]] and [[Birmingham Theatre]]
*** 1700-1708: [[Citizens Trust Bank]] former location of [[Panta Corporation]] parking lot (1950)m [[Car Park Inc.]] parking lot (1964) former location of [[Birmingham Auditorium]] (built 1890s), [[Bijou Theatre]] (1898-1915), [[Loew's Bijou]]/[[Leow's Vaudeville]] (1917-1925), [[Pantages Theatre]] (1925-1946), and [[Birmingham Theatre]] (1946-1950)
*** 1708: former parking lot
**** 1700:  
*** 1710: former location of [[R. F. Cain Furniture]]
*** 1710: former location of [[R. F. Cain Furniture]]
*** 1712: former location of [[Bagley's Gas Appliance]]
*** 1712: former location of [[Bagley's Gas Appliance]]

Revision as of 23:36, 2 March 2015

3rd Avenue North, looking east from 18th Street in October 1972
3rd Avenue North, looking northeast from 21st Street, c. 1911

Third Avenue North is an east-west street running through downtown Birmingham. The westernmost section by that name ends at Center Street, although the road continues further west as 3rd Avenue West. The easternmost section ends at 88th Street, just west of Roebuck Municipal Golf Course.

Third Avenue is continuous from Center Street to Carraway Boulevard (formerly 26th Street North). At that point, it is interrupted by the 2nd Avenue North off-ramp of the Elton B. Stephens Expressway and railroad tracks. The road is one way eastbound from 9th to 26th Street North. There is a short segment of 3rd on the west side of 28th Street North. The next segment curves from 29th Street northward to line up with 31st Street North across Messer Airport Highway.

The avenue does not appear again eastward until Forest Hills Cemetery next to the I-20/I-59 interchange. At this point, Richard Arrington, Jr. Boulevard North (formerly 10th Avenue North), becomes 3rd Avenue. Third then continues northeast with some gaps, notably at Trotwood Park, I-59, and East Lake Park, to 88th Street.

The two-way portion of 3rd Avenue from Center Street to 9th Avenue is five lanes wide. The one-way portion is four lanes from 9th to 14th Street North and three lanes from 14th to between 24th and 25th Street. At this point, the left lane becomes an on-ramp for the Elton B. Stephens Expressway. Throughout the 1970s and most of the 1980s, this on-ramp was the northernmost point to get on the expressway as it did not connect to I-20/I-59 at that time. Third Avenue continues as two lanes under the expressway to Carraway Boulevard. The rest of the road segments east of here are two lanes as well.

History

The initial commercial expansion on 3rd Avenue took place on the south side of the street during the 1880s between 20th and 21st Streets. Third Avenue was also where the first two county courthouses in Birmingham were built (at 21st Street). The courthouse attracted other development to the intersection where it was located, such as the Title Guaranty Building.

Three stores on the north side of the 1800 block (Block 72), modernized in 1961, were damaged in a major fire on the evening of December 17, 1970.

The first section of 3rd Avenue North to be converted from two-way to one-way (eastbound) traffic was from 14th Street North to Red Mountain Expressway. The one-way section was expanded westward to 9th Street North in 1973 by the Alabama Department of Transportation's TOPICS (Traffic Operations Program to Increase Capacity and Safety) program.

Notable locations

For an alphabetical list of locations, see the 3rd Avenue North category.

Smithfield neighborhood

Fountain Heights

Central City

References

  • White, Marjorie Longenecker, ed. (1980) Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide, second edition. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society.
  • R.L. Polk & Co. (1919) "R.L. Polk & Co.'s Birmingham City Directory"

External links

3rd Avenue North on Google Maps

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