3rd Avenue North: Difference between revisions

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 225: Line 225:


===[[Central City]]===
===[[Central City]]===
[[File:Farley Building postcard.jpg|right|thumb|275px|The Farley Building at 3rd & 20th]]
* [[19th Street North]] intersection
* [[19th Street North]] intersection
** North side ([[Block 73]])
** North side ([[Block 73]])
Line 245: Line 246:
**** 1930: former location of [[Irving Sarnolls Hats]] (1929), furrier (1937)
**** 1930: former location of [[Irving Sarnolls Hats]] (1929), furrier (1937)
**** 1932: former location of [[A. Schulute Cigars]] (1929), [[Wallock's]] (1937)
**** 1932: former location of [[A. Schulute Cigars]] (1929), [[Wallock's]] (1937)
** South side ([[Block 86]])
** South side ([[Block 86]])
*** 1901: former location of [[F. W. Woolworth]]
*** 1901-1907: [[California Fashion Mall]], former location of [[F. W. Woolworth]] (1939–1988)
*** 1911: [[New Williams Lofts]] (former location of [[New Williams]], previously [[House of Jacobs]])
**** 1901: former location of [[L. A. Moore Shop]] (1929)
*** 1913: former location of [[Clark & Jones]] piano company, [[Nisley Shoes]]
**** 1903: former location of [[Dixie Shirt Shop]] (1929)
*** 1915: former location of [[S. H. Kress & Co.]] and [[Odum, Bowers & White]] (-1978)
**** 1905: former location of [[Guarantee Shoe Co.]] (1929)
*** 1919: former location of [[Gilbert Trunk Factory]], [[Bond Clothing Company]]
**** 1907: former location of [[Mance Millinery Co.]] (1929)
*** 1921: former location of [[Newsome's]] candy store, [[The Vanity]] boutique, [[Maurice]] boutique
*** 1911-1913: [[New Williams Lofts]] former location of [[House of Jacobs]], [[New Williams]] (1918-1988)
*** 1923: [[Moore Solutions]] (formerly the [[Bonita Theater]], [[Rialto Theatre]], and [[Gift World]]), former site of [[Guarantee Shoe Company]]
**** 1913: former location of [[Clark & Jones]] furniture & piano company (1929), [[Nisley Shoes]] (1937)
*** 1929-1939: [[Farley Building]], former home of the [[Altrurian Society]]
*** 1915-1917: former location of [[S. H. Kress & Co.]] (1899-1910s), [[Cotton, Odum & Bowers]], [[Odum, Bowers & White]] (1910s-1978)
*** 1919: former location of [[Gilbert Trunk Factory]], [[Becker's Shoe Store]] (1929), [[Bond Clothing Company]] (1937-1964)
*** 1921: former location of [[Rialto Tea Room]] (1929), [[Newsome's]] candy store, [[The Vanity]] boutique, [[Maurice]] boutique (1937), [[Stein's]] men's clothes (1964)
*** 1923: [[Moore Solutions]], former location of the [[Bonita Theater]], [[Rialto Theatre]] (1915-1930s), [[Guarantee Shoe Company]] (1937-1964), [[Gift World]]
*** 1925-1933: [[Farley Building]] (built 1909), former home of the [[Altrurian Society]]
**** 1925: former location of [[Thompson Shoes]] (1929), [[Julie Ann Hat Shop]] (1964)
**** 1927: former location of [[Cinderella Shoe Shop]] (1929), [[Adorable Shop]] (1964)
**** 1929: former hat shop
**** 1929: former hat shop
**** 1931: [[Brannon's]], former dress shop
**** 1931: former location of a dress shop, [[Craig's Shoes]] (1964) [[Brannon's]] public house (2009-2011)
**** 1933: building entrance
**** 1933: former location of [[Liggett's Drug Store]] (1929-1937)
**** 1935: former location of [[Liggett's Drug Store]]
 
* [[20th Street North]] intersection
* [[20th Street North]] intersection
** North side ([[Block 74]])
** North side ([[Block 74]])

Revision as of 17:00, 5 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

The Farley Building at 3rd & 20th

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

Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=3rd_Avenue_North&oldid=113015"