Charles Rice

Charles Edgar Rice (born September 2, 1878 in Valley Head; died November 17, 1937 in Homewood) was an attorney and the first Mayor of Homewood, serving two terms between 1926 and 1932.

Rice was the son of Reverend C. M. and Rilla Sartor Rice. He studied law and founded the firms of Rice & Stone and Rice & Bibb in Birmingham.

Rice built a large frame house with a wraparound porch at 801 Forest Street in Edgewood in 1910, a year before the Edgewood Electric Railway made the subdivision more accessible to Birmingham. He was a civic leader in the central Shades Valley area and chaired a committee that helped Trinity United Methodist Church make the move from Lakeview to Edgewood.

Later when Edgewood merged with Grove Park and Rosedale to form the City of Homewood, Rice was elected as its first mayor. He served two terms, during which he focused on street improvements and establishing a Homewood City Hall in downtown Homewood. He was defeated in a bid for a third term in 1932 and retired from public life.

References

• Summe, Sheryl Spradling. (2001). Homewood: The Life of a City. Homewood, AL: Friends of the Homewood Public Library.