3rd Avenue North: Difference between revisions

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==Notable locations==
==Notable locations==
{{Alphabetical locations}}
{{Alphabetical locations}}
===[[Smithfield neighborhood]]===
* 30: former location of [[Rondezvous Gardens]] restaurant
* 30: former location of [[Rondezvous Gardens]] restaurant
* 530: [[6th Street Peace Baptist Church]]
* 530: [[6th Street Peace Baptist Church]]
* 900 block: [[Adams Inn]]
* 900 block: [[Adams Inn]]
* 1000 block:
* 1000 block:
** [[Interstate 65]] overpass/ramps
* [[Interstate 65]] overpass/ramps
 
===[[Fountain Heights]]===
* [[Interstate 65]] overpass/ramps
** 1005: former location of [[Refrigeration Service Co., Inc.]]
** 1005: former location of [[Refrigeration Service Co., Inc.]]
** 1229: [[Birmingham Urban League]]
** 1229: [[Birmingham Urban League]]
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*** 1819: former [[Loveman's Annex]], now part of [[McWane Science Center]]
*** 1819: former [[Loveman's Annex]], now part of [[McWane Science Center]]
*** 1821-1831: [[McWane Science Center]] (previously [[Loveman's]])
*** 1821-1831: [[McWane Science Center]] (previously [[Loveman's]])
* [[19th Street North]] intersection
===[[Central City]]===
* [[19th Street North]] intersection
* [[19th Street North]] intersection
** North side ([[Block 73]])
** North side ([[Block 73]])
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*** 2020: former location of [[Molton, Allen & Williams]] real estate
*** 2020: former location of [[Molton, Allen & Williams]] real estate
*** 2022: former location of [[Avondale Building and Loan]]
*** 2022: former location of [[Avondale Building and Loan]]
*** 2024: [[Title Building]]
*** 2024: [[Title Building]], offices of [[Southpace Properties]]
**** 2024: former location of the [[Silver Pheasant Tea Room]] and [[Peddinghaus Studio]]
**** 2024: former location of the [[Weather Forecast Office Birmingham|Weather Bureau]] station, the [[Birmingham Sunday School Association]], the [[Silver Pheasant Tea Room]], [[Peddinghaus Studio]], offices of architect [[David O. Whilldin]], [[First Commercial Bank]], [[Safari Cup]], and [[O'Carr's]].
** South side ([[Block 85]])
** South side ([[Block 85]])
*** 2001: former location of [[Porter Clothing Company]] and newsstand
*** 2001: former location of [[Porter Clothing Company]] and newsstand
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*** 2231: former location of [[Edwin Stephenson]]'s residence
*** 2231: former location of [[Edwin Stephenson]]'s residence
* [[23rd Street North]] intersection
* [[23rd Street North]] intersection
** 2300: [[YWCA Building]], formerly [[Birmingham Athletic Club]] and [[YWCA Building|Dixie-Carlton Hotel]], former location of [[Hooper's Café]]
** 2309: proposed venue for the [[Gaslight Theatre]] in [[1954]]
** 2317: [[Revenue Discovery Systems]]
* [[24th Street North]] intersection
** North side ([[Block 77]])
** North side ([[Block 77]])
*** 2300: [[YWCA Building]], formerly [[Birmingham Athletic Club]] and [[YWCA Building|Dixie-Carlton Hotel]], former location of [[Hooper's Café]]
** South side ([[Block 82]])
** South side ([[Block 82]])
*** 2401: [[Social Grill]] (vacant)
*** [[Social Grill]] (vacant)
*** 2309: proposed venue for the [[Gaslight Theatre]] in [[1954]]
*** 2317: [[Revenue Discovery Systems]]
* [[24th Street North]] intersection
** North side
*** [[Birmingham Post Office]]
*** [[Elton B. Stephens Expressway]] on-ramp
** South side
*** 2403: former location of [[Jimmie Hale Mission]]
*** 2403: former location of [[Jimmie Hale Mission]]
* [[25th Street North]] intersection (south only)
** Birmingham Post Office
** [[Elton B. Stephens Expressway]] overpass
* [[Carraway Boulevard]] intersection (road ends)


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 11:33, 8 July 2013

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.

External links

3rd Avenue North on Google Maps

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