Avondale Zoo

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The Avondale Zoo or Avondale Park Zoo was Birmingham's first public zoo exhibit, preceded only by an informal menagerie of a few native animals kept at Magnolia Park by members of Birmingham Fire Station No. 3 in the 1890s.

The first animal enclosures at Avondale Park were constructed in 1911. The zoo's star attraction, Miss Fancy the elephant, was purchased from a struggling circus in 1913 with money raised by civic promoters and a kids' penny drive. Other animals on exhibit included a bison, two cows, Dick the rattlesnake, a llama, two bears, an assortment of foxes, wolves, coyotes, raccoons and wildcats, along with monkeys, rabbits and water fowl. Most of the animals were presented to the zoo as gifts from area residents.

A green-painted barn opening onto a fenced yard was constructed for Miss Fancy, who was tended to initially by trainer Dayton Allen and later by John Todd, who developed a close relationship with the animal.

The effects of the Great Depression led the city to shutter the zoo to save $4,600 in annual maintenance costs. The Birmingham Park Board brought the issue up in 1932 and the city began looking for parties who could take on the care of Miss Fancy, in particular. The Birmingham Board of Education declined, as did former Mayor George Ward, proprietor of the Roman-styled Vestavia estate on Shades Mountain. He reportedly told the Park Board that "Lions, tigers and elephants contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire. No elephant will have the opportunity to bring about the disintegration of my Roman empire." (In another version, he declined on the basis that she might fall off the cliff edge.)

The board formed a three-man committee, made up of George Bellsnyder, Thomas Bowron and James Morgan to study the issue. They recommended closing the zoo down by returning the donated animals to their former owners and seeking buyers for the rest. The park's exotic animals, including Miss Fancy, were sold to the Cole Brothers - Clyde Beatty Circus of Rochester, Indiana for a total of $710. Other animals in the collection at the time were, "a 'gila monster' lizard, one snake, one buffalo, one eagle, three 'sacred' doves, three rabbits, three owls, 20 mallard ducks, 80 scova geese [Muscovy ducks], four mud-hens, one hybird [?], two raccoons, two peacocks, one lynx cat, one goat, three turtles, 12 geese, four swan, one rebu [zebu], one llama, nine monkeys, two gophers, 300 squirrels, three groundhogs and a parrot." Another report also mentioned a black bear, a bison, a wolf, a pheasant, 10 alligators, a hawk, and a gopher. The waterfowl were allowed to remain in the park, but the rest of the animals were sold off.

Circus crews arrived on November 11, 1934 to accompany the animals they had purchased to their winter quarters in Peru, Indiana. The first boxcar proved too small for Miss Fancy, and she waited by the rail siding for a larger carriage, which departed the city about 7:00 PM.

References

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