Name: Chilton County
Brand: Billy J. Singleton
SKU: 9781467125185
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Chilton County

9781467125185

$24.99

Located in the geographic center of the state, Chilton County is the Peach Capital of Alabama. The mild climate and gently sloping terrain of central Alabama provide an ideal environment for cultivation of the region's principal agricultural export and Alabama's leading commercial fruit. This distinctive setting has influenced the heritage and historical legacy of the county and its people for more than 100 years. From the big peach water tower that welcomes visitors to Chilton County to the annual peach festival celebration and the crowning of the Peach Queen, this iconic fruit has become symbolic of a way of life for residents of the Chilton County communities of Clanton, Jemison, Maplesville, Thorsby, and Verbena. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of this remarkable county, Images of America: Chilton County is the story of the people and places that are the heart of Alabama.

Leeds

9780738591254

$24.99

Although Leeds State Bank opened in 1910, the small city's history as the primary population center of the Cahaba Valley started by 1810, when European woodsmen came through Tennessee to live along the Cahaba Trail with the Cherokee Indians. By 1821, Henry Little, a Scottish descendant, built his log home near an existing gristmill. In 1857, he rebuilt the mill as his version of the regionally famous Fuller's Mill. Early settlements consisted of Europeans and Cherokees who remembered the American Revolution and who fought in the War of 1812, which they believed was a second revolution. Free African Americans arrived in the 1880s with the building of the railroad, bringing added ingenuity. All founding groups were Americans who demonstrated their sense of community, value of education, and reverence for God as they began a Leeds heritage that includes three Medal of Honor recipients, as well as famous statesmen, scholars, athletes, entertainers, and builders.

Anniston Revisited

9781467114752

$24.99

Nestled in the Piedmont region of the Appalachian Mountains, the small farming community of Pine Ankle was established in the 1830s on the former lands of the Creek Nation. In 1872, industrialists Samuel Noble and Daniel Tyler purchased the land for their Woodstock Iron Company, and in 1883 the town was opened to the public as Annie's Town. It grew rapidly, and by the early 20th century Anniston was not only the seat of Calhoun County, but also home to numerous textile and iron industries as well as a thriving military complex. The vintage photographs in Images of America: Anniston Revisited showcase the daily lives of Annistonians and Fort McClellan soldiers during a time when Noble Street was a bustling urban center. Anniston's homes, schools, and community centers are featured, along with the expanded downtown area and Fort McClellan, to paint a vivid portrait of "The Model City."

Mobile and the Eastern Shore

9780738515489

$24.99

To say that Mobile has a rich history is like saying Nashville has a few musicians. The port city has a rich heritage dating back to the 1700's. The oldest city in Alabama, Mobile has seen the rule of the Spanish, the French, the British, the United States, the Confederacy, and the United States again. Mobile was celebrating Mardi Gras before New Orleans. Some of the last fighting of the Civil War took place on a hill outside the city, after Appomattox. Baseball stars Henry Aaron and Satchel Paige even played their first games of baseball in the sandlots here.

Tuscaloosa

9780738587882

$24.99

Tuscaloosa (Choctaw for "black warrior") is one of the oldest cities in West Alabama. It shares its name with a chief who fought Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in 1540 and a river that stretches from the Appalachian foothills in the north-central region to the floodplain and lowlands of the south. Called "The Druid City" since the 1800s, when large water oaks lined its main streets, Tuscaloosa remains a center of industry, commerce, health care, education, and cultural life, with the university being its dominant source. The former capital (from 1826 to 1846) is affiliated with the Alabama Crimson Tide, catfish, Dreamland, the Black Warrior River, a strong folk and craft tradition, and Gov. George Wallace's 1963 "stand at the schoolhouse door."

Guntersville

9781467105644

$24.99

Long before the creation of its famous lake in 1939, Guntersville had a reputation for ferries, farms, and factories. Its streets bustled with customers patronizing shops, cafés, and movie theaters. Ranging from the Nedofik Surgical Sofa Company and the Basket Factory to the Saratoga Victory Mills, Guntersville's diverse industries helped the community thrive. Today, businesses like Wayne Farms Feedmill and Kappler, Inc., continue to reflect the city's industrial nature. This rich manufacturing history coupled with lake tourism meant Guntersville drew visits from an array of actors, singers, authors, scientists, and politicians. Many came frequently, and a few chose to stay. A mesh of new and old, industry and lake, Guntersville continues to charm.

Birmingham Broadcasting

9780738542713

$24.99

Birmingham, Alabama, has enjoyed a long and distinguished broadcasting history. The city's first radio station aired in 1922, and television arrived in 1949. Both media produced personalities who became household names in the city. Audiences came to know Joe Rumore, Tommy Charles, Country Boy Eddy, Cousin Cliff Holman, Rosemary, Pat Gray, Tom York, and many others as if they were members of their own families. Even the commercials became as memorable as the news, entertainment, talk, and children's shows they interrupted.

Cherokee County

9780738505879

$24.99

Within these pages, the Cherokee County's rich and varied history is illuminated by vintage photographs, and its past is brought to life in the faces of its early settlers.

Created in 1836 from land held formerly by the Cherokee Indians, Cherokee County is situated in the northeast corner of Alabama, bordered by Georgia to the east.The families of the Reverend Whitefield Anthony and others settled at Mudd Creek in 1831 in what was to become Cherokee County. From these first families developed a community that would grow and change along with a young and bustling America, welcoming new industries, farming fertile lands, and building churches and schools to feed the hearts and minds of its young. The photographs in this volume, illustrating the county's past as well as how it looks in the present day, were culled from a variety of sources, including the Cherokee County History Museum, the Pine Grove Baptist Church, and the private collections of many local families. Coupled with a historical narrative, these glimpses of yesteryear will evoke fond memories for all who have made Cherokee County home.

Monroeville

9780738554372

$24.99

Monroeville is the county seat of Monroe County, a county older than the state of Alabama itself.

Located in what was the western Creek Nation, Monroeville became the center of county business in 1832, eighteen years after the surrender of the Creeks to Andrew Jackson. Monroeville soon became a powerful political base in the state. In the 20th century, it hosted visits from ""Big Jim"" Folsom as well as George Wallace, a powerful young orator who would change the face of American politics. Today, Monroeville is known as the childhood home of internationally known authors Harper Lee and Truman Capote; Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird was set even in a small Southern town based on Monroeville, while many of Capote's short stories and novels were drawn from his Monroeville experiences. Visitors from around the world come to the town that still remembers when Capote rented the town's only taxi for the weekend and drove around for days ""visiting. "" Townsfolk like to talk about the time Gregory Peck came to town to meet the many of the people who were inspirations for the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. As other writers from Monroeville emerge, such as Mark Childress and Cynthia Tucker, one wonders how many more stories the town holds, as well as what is so special about a small, rural southwestern Alabama town call Monroeville.

North Alabama Beer

9781467136648

$21.99

North Alabama built its fi rst commercial brewery in Huntsville in 1819, three months before the state joined the Union. Before Prohibition in 1915, the region was peppered with numerous saloons, taverns and dance halls. Locals still found ways to get their booze during Prohibition using Tennessee River steamboats and secret tunnels for smuggling. Alabama re-legalized beer in 1937, but it wasn't until 2004, when the grass-roots organization Free the Hops took on the state's harsh beer laws, that the craft beer scene really began to flourish. Authors Sarah Bélanger and Kamara Bowling Davis trace the history of beer in North Alabama from the early saloon days to the craft beer explosion.

Irresistible History of Alabama Barbecue, An

9781467137027

$21.99

From Muscle Shoals to Mobile, Alabamians enjoy fabulous barbecue at home, at club meetings and at countless eateries.

In the 1820s, however, a group of reformers wanted to eliminate the southern staple because politicians used it to entice voters. As the state and nation changed through wars and the civil rights movement, so did Alabama barbecue. Alabama restaurants like Big Bob Gibson's, Dreamland and Jim 'n Nick's have earned fans across the country. Mark A. Johnson traces the development of the state's famous food from the earliest settlement of the state to the rise of barbecue restaurants.

Irresistible History of Alabama Barbecue, An

Haunted Montgomery, Alabama

9781609499303

$21.99

In Montgomery--cradle of the Confederacy and capital city of Alabama--lost highways bring visitors to the grave of legendary country singer Hank Williams and the home of the jazz-era princess Zelda Fitzgerald. Dig up the bones on the feather duster murder from the Garden District, and find out which spirits at Huntingdon College make this campus their eternal home. Take a stroll through the Old Alabama Town, and listen for the ghost of the Lucas Tavern. Join ghost hunter and folklorist Faith Serafin for a trip through the Heart of Dixie and Montgomery's most haunted history.

Gadsden

9781467112239

$24.99

Gadsden began as a small stagecoach stop on the banks of the Coosa River, where weary travelers could rest while traveling between Jacksonville and Huntsville. Known as Double Springs, the small settlement consisted of several log dwellings, a store, a school, and a post office. In 1840, the coming of Gabriel Hughes and his wife, Asenath, followed by Gabriel's brother Joseph Hughes, led to the founding of a new town that would eventually grow into Gadsden. In the days before and during World War II, new industry brought jobs to the Gadsden Ordnance Plant and civilian jobs to Camp Sibert. Following the end of the war, the area experienced a return to normalcy and a great time of growth when Gadsden's fighting men returned home. Gadsden has also been blessed with exceptional leadership over the years, which has propelled it from a small village on the banks of the Coosa River to the "City of Champions" and an All-America City.

Alabama Power Company

9780738513546

$24.99

The rise of Alabama's largest utility company is a story that mirrors the growth of the state in the twentieth century, and it is told within these pages through vintage photographs from the company's corporate archives. Glimpses of the past reveal how the company flourished after its December 4, 1906 creation and how it changed and enhanced the lives of residents in all areas of the state.
While William Patrick Lay is credited with the founding of the Alabama Power Company, the subsequent leadership of James Mitchell and Thomas Martin brought unprecedented growth and provided a critical catalyst for the state's entry into the "New South." Although slowed by the Great Depression and the demands of World War II, expansion continued in the company's post-war years with new leadership and further construction, including hydropower projects on the Warrior River and the building of massive coal-fired plants. Early photographs illuminate the company's pioneers and leaders; the erection of dams on the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers between 1912 and 1930; the construction of early coal-fired steam plants, including the Gadsden Steam Plant in 1913; and the arduous laying of miles of transmission lines. Physical infrastructure is only part of the story, however; other photographs capture the human face of the company--the workers, their families, and their unyielding efforts to electrify Alabama in the name of progress.

Birmingham and Jefferson County

9780738587301

$24.99

From its founding as a steel-making area that rivaled any in the world for quality and quantity, to its present-day role as a leading banking, retail, and medical center for the New South, the rolling, iron-rich land of Jefferson County has been well represented in picture postcards. Roving photographers and those from local studios captured scenes of civic, business, and private life, and made them into postcards that were sent around the world. Birmingham and Jefferson County, Alabama takes the reader on a visual tour of such landmarks as the Tutwiler Hotel, the Empire Building, Rickwood Field, Legion Field, Arlington, and the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Explore the beginnings of world-class medical facilities, the rise of the iron and steel industry, and the rich cultural heritage that the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Italians, Greeks, and other ethnic groups brought to the area.

Tannehill Ironworks

9780738582412

$24.99

When cotton was king and Jackson was president, Daniel Hillman built a bloomery forge on Roupes Creek near the Jefferson and Tuscaloosa County line. As the birthplace of the Birmingham Iron and Steel District, the forge grew into an important battery of three blast furnaces capable of producing 22 tons of iron daily for Confederate munitions. The Tannehill Furnaces--the handiwork of Moses Stroup, one of the South's leading ironmasters--are among the best preserved 19th-century ironworks in America. Along with the Iron and Steel Museum of Alabama, the furnace ruins form the centerpiece of Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park, which attracts 400,000 visitors annually. It is Alabama's most visited Civil War site.

Decatur

9781467102940

$24.99

Established in 1820 on the banks of the Tennessee River, Decatur, Alabama, has always had its destiny tied to the water. It is the city's lifeblood and obstacle.

A railroad, an "iron river" between Tuscumbia and Decatur, was built to overcome the natural obstacle so it could be used as an asset. This effort worked. War, pestilence, economic downturns, labor, and social unrest all imbued residents with a resilience of spirit. Residents knew it, and visitors sometimes described it in quick notes on cardstock. These postcards from Decatur, Alabama, traveled across the land and the world. Presented here for the first time are some of those cards, dating between 1874 and the latter 1970s.

Montevallo

9780738587431

$24.99

Montevallo: a mountain in a valley. This bucolic, natural phrase aptly describes the beauty of this central Alabama town. Early settlers were drawn to the area by its abundant agricultural and mineral resources, and in 1826, the tiny village of Montevallo was born. The nature of the town changed significantly in 1896 with the founding of the Alabama Girls' Industrial School, now the University of Montevallo. The Olmsted Brothers firm of Brookline, Massachusetts, laid out the central campus, and its master plan still inspires current development. Since 1896, the focus of the town has shifted from agriculture and mining to education. The university's mission is to be Alabama's "Public Liberal Arts College." Prominent figures include writer and veteran E. B. Sledge, actresses Polly Holliday and Rebecca Luker, and Major League Baseball player Rusty Greer.

Miles College

9780738517933

$24.99

Emerging from post-Civil War America, Miles College was formally founded in 1905 by the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Efforts to found the college began in 1898 as part of the struggle to create equal educational opportunities for Birmingham's African-American middle class and expanding working class. Since then, the college
has aimed to develop students intellectually, ethically, and spiritually and has remained affiliated with its founder. Originally chartered as Miles Memorial College, in honor of Bishop William H. Miles, the name of the college was changed by the trustees in 1941 to its current name, Miles College.
The four-year, liberal arts Historically Black College
(HBCU) is currently located in Fairfield, Alabama,
six miles west of downtown Birmingham. In recent
years, the college has had an annual enrollment of
over 1,700. The close relationship Miles College
established with the community is still
maintained today.

Birmingham Food:

9781626198074

$21.99

Birmingham began as a boomtown filled with immigrants who held on to the best recipes from their homelands. More recently, locals like Frank Stitt and Carole Griffin helped transform the modern southern city into a foodie destination with the best of national trends. Andrew Zimmern visited with his show Bizarre Foods America to tout one of the city's most popular food trucks, Shindigs. Fast casual dining is done with care, and gems like Trattoria Centrale and Bettola are dedicated to local ingredients. Join food writer and restaurant enthusiast Emily Brown as she details the delectable history of food in the Magic City.

Baseball in Montgomery

9781467124836

$24.99

In 2004, Riverwalk Stadium ushered in a new era of professional baseball in Montgomery. After a more-than-20-year absence, the new ballpark became a catalyst for the revitalization of downtown Montgomery. Biscuit baseball and Riverwalk Stadium have given citizens something to be proud of. The stadium is nestled between the Alabama River and railroad tracks and incorporates the old Western Railroad building as part of the ballpark. This has made Riverwalk an example for other cities looking to keep their identity and add something new and exciting. Montgomery's rich baseball history includes hall of fame players like Fred Clarke, Joe McGinnity, Casey Stengel, and Turkey Stearnes. There is also the forgotten history of an Alabama native, Roy "Goat" Walker, a fan favorite of Montgomery baseball for two generations.

Hoover

9781467112185

$24.99

Take a view of Hoover and the nearby towns of Bluff Park, Shades Mountain, Rocky Ridge, Green Valley, and Patton (Patton's) Chapel.

The community of Hoover began as a seed planted in the young mind of William Henry Hoover Sr. (1890-1979). Hoover's father dreamed of a city for working families, and the younger Hoover used this vision as a road map to build a strong municipality that grew with business, community, and family living. Through hard work and determination, Hoover opened Employers Mutual of Alabama's first office in Birmingham in 1922. He later founded the early town of Hoover in 1954 and in 1958 moved his company to the area that would be incorporated in 1967 as the city of Hoover. Several nearby communities are older than the city itself. Images of America: Hoover looks at Bluff Park, Shades Mountain, Rocky Ridge, Green Valley, and Patton (Patton's) Chapel as some of the early areas where Hoover's great story began.

Perry County

9780738586625

$24.99

Perry County has been a major player in the history of Alabama. Native Americans lived and hunted on its land, and it became a county before Alabama gained statehood. Early citizens chose to name it for Oliver Hazard Perry, a hero of the War of 1812. The people of Perry County have played major roles over the years, which include the following: one married Sam Houston; one served as Alabama's first governor during the Civil War; one designed the Confederate flag and uniform; one married Martin Luther King; one was slain by a state trooper, triggering the Selma-to-Montgomery march; and another was the wife of Andrew Young. Along with its history, Perry County is an educational center and the location of many homes that predate the Civil War. Images of America: Perry County features samples of its rich history in photographs.

Around Chelsea

9781467116411

$24.99

From humble beginnings to magnificent gains, there are few cities that can boast as much growth as Chelsea, Alabama. Where Creek Indians once hunted and roamed, successful businesses, neighborhoods, schools, recreation parks, and churches now stand. In the mid-1800s, pioneer families settled in the hills of what was first called Melrose. The railroad played a vital role in the advancement of the area by offering passenger and commercial transportation, attracting families, businesses, and schools, and in 1996 Chelsea was incorporated with a population of 908. Just over 10 years later, it exceeded 10,000, and Chelsea was the fastest-growing city in Shelby County. With an expanding home market, a growing school system, and a strong sense of community, Chelsea is widely considered one of the top areas in the state for families to live. In fact, the city's motto is "It's all about family."

Energen Corporation

9780738514611

$24.99

Energen Corporation, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, traces its beginnings to October 14, 1852. On that date, John Jeffrey and Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, received a franchise from the City of Montgomery to provide street lighting using manufactured gas. Montgomery Gas Light Company purchased the franchise in 1853 and a year later, the first street gaslights were in operation. Since 1854, the Company has experienced mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and name changes. In 1937, Southern Natural Gas Company organized the utility into Alabama Gas Company and in 1948 merged it with Birmingham Gas Company to form Alabama Gas Corporation. The Company spun off from Southern Natural in 1953, becoming an independent and publicly traded company. Positioning itself for the future in 1974, the Company formed Alagasco, Inc., a holding company, with Alabama Gas Corporation as its primary subsidiary. In 1985, the holding company became Energen Corporation. Today, Energen Corporation is a diversified energy company with two major subsidiaries, Alagasco, its natural gas utility, and Energen Resources, its oil and gas acquisition and production company.

Gorgas House at the University of Alabama

9781467123846

$24.99

Built in 1829, the Gorgas House is the oldest structure on the University of Alabama campus. Originally constructed to serve as a hotel, housing for the university steward, and student dining hall, the building underwent several renovations to meet the needs of an ever-changing and growing campus. Later utilized as a faculty residence, classroom, post office, and infirmary, the Gorgas House was one of the few buildings to survive the destruction of campus near the end of the Civil War. Standing as a lasting reminder of the university's antebellum past, the house is preserved today as a museum dedicated to the legacy of the building's final residents, the Gorgas family.

Gorgas House at the University of Alabama

Alabama Baby

9781455626359

$24.95

Keep track of your baby's essential Alabama firsts in this unique baby book! Place birthday photos and record milestones on colorful pages with hand lettered text. Capture baby's first experiences with food including favorite fried chicken, white BBQ sauce, and banana pudding! Colorful pages provide guided journaling of baby's first football game, visit to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, and more. Illustrated end sheets give space to record blessings from the baby shower and well wishes from loved ones in this book that will become an heirloom for generations.

Riverchase

9781467117401

$24.99

If residents of the original c. 1900s mining town of Acton, Alabama, looked into the future, would they have imagined that the area would develop into the multimillion-dollar planned community it is today? In the late 1960s, John M. Harbert III (1921-1995), founder of Harbert Corporation, saw tremendous potential for land in Acton owned by the Chace brothers. In 1974, the Harbert Corporation partnered with Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States to form Harbert-Equitable Joint Venture, Riverchase. This plan was not a concrete jungle of homes and businesses. The venture called for a careful blending of new development with its surrounding natural landscape. This plan spoke to man's need to be part of nature, albeit in a new and responsible way. Today, Riverchase is a picturesque community steeped in land preservation, business development, and community pride. The story of Riverchase is conveyed through the memories of its residents in Images of Modern America: Riverchase.

Baseball in Huntsville

9781467152693

$23.99

The Rocket City Trash Pandas, who made their Class AA South debut last summer, rekindled the interest in professional baseball in this area. As a journalist, it rekindled my interest in looking at the team with some historical context, to the first baseball team in the area (in 1903, with Ty Cobb as a visiting player) to the arrival of the first affiliated team (in 1985) and its ultimate demise. I discovered interesting characters of the early days (the first "graduate" from Huntsville to the majors once placed a dead rat in a sportswriter's bed, perhaps a precursor to the horse's head in The Godfather). The Huntsville Stars era was populated with some legendary players, like Jose Canseco, who was the league MVP in the first year of the franchise, Mark McGwire, Tim Hudson, Ryan Braun and Nelson Cruz. The Huntsville area also produced some fascinating players like Gabby Street, famous for catching a ball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument, Jimmy Key, Craig Kimbrel and our "Mr. Baseball," Don Mincher, who homered in his first World Series at-bat, enjoyed a 14-year career in the majors, became a team general manager, owner and, ultimately, president of the Southern League. Even as people embrace the freshness of the Trash Pandas, so often the conversation will turn to "I remember when…" moments from the Stars' era.

The Haunting of Alabama

9781455622900

$23.95

A tour to make you tremble!

Alabama’s haunted history is spotlighted in chapters that cover the ghostly escapades and happenings at Rawls Hotel, Heritage Bible College, the USS Alabama, Bayview Bridge, and Marion Military Institute, to name a few. Each entry provides a history of the establishment and offers the possible motivations behind the hauntings. Vivid descriptions of the setting, along with detailed eyewitness accounts, enable the reader to experience the hair-raising events firsthand. Dip into this ghostly guide for a tour of more than forty haunted sites along with stories of their supernatural inhabitants. In each instance, skepticism abounds and the question remains—is there really a ghost?

Baseball in Alabama

9781467138789

$24.99

Although football may first spring to mind when talking about sports in Alabama, the state has certainly made its mark with the national pastime. Thirteen players with Alabama roots are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, including all-time greats like Hank Aaron, Ozzie Smith and Satchel Paige. Bob Veale of Birmingham led the National League in strikeouts in 1964. Superstars and former players like Bo Jackson and Britt Burns give back to their home state by organizing charities and coaching Alabama's next generation of players. Author and baseball historian Doug Wedge explores stories from this rich history.

Bemiston

9780738568034

$24.99

Built in 1928, the mill town known as Bemiston was a development of the Bemis Brothers Bag Company. This village was built as a model city and boasted all-cement sidewalks and paved streets, which was an unheard-of feature in the late 1920s. The 700,000-square-foot bag plant, which was the center of the community, took almost two years to build due to the lack of electric tools or cranes. Therefore, mules equipped with scoops were given the arduous task of moving the mounds of earth to facilitate construction of this vast plant. Bemiston had its own general store, fire department, and medical office with nurses around the clock. It also had its own electric system, water department, and garbage collection. The community building was the center of social life, and residents spent many hours socializing there. The town was known as a good place to raise children and enjoy family life.

Haunted Auburn and Opelika

9781609492304

$21.99

The Auburn and Opelika region is home to one of the most historic universities in the South. It is a region with a history stretching back generations, and it is a history that is very much still alive. Chilling remnants of the past continue to haunt Auburn-Opelika and the communities of Lee County. Join expert ghost hunters Faith Serafin, Michelle Smith, and John Mark Poe as they reveal for the first time the stories of the spirits still lingering throughout the area. The haunting of the University's Samford Hall, the legend of historic Springvilla mansion, and the Headless Man of Highway 80, among many other ghostly tales, uncover the darker side Auburn-Opelika.

Cover image for Haunted Auburn and Opelika, isbn: 9781609492304

Historic Alabama Bells

9781467144957

$23.99

After seven years of climbing into attics, domes, towers and steeples, Thomas Kaufmann emerges with a story of Alabama bells.

This story encapsulates the history of the state itself. These bells - some dormant, others pealing still - were forged by the Reveres in Boston. They called Alabamians to worship, celebrated weddings and tolled at funerals. They sounded the death knell for countless parishioners during the havoc of the Civil War, watched over the Freedom Riders and shook from the blast of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing. And while their clear tones have rung out in remembrance of so many of the state's solemn and sacred moments, many of these bells have fallen into neglect, their silence serving as its own reminder of the urgent need for preservation.

Birmingham's Theater and Retail District

9780738517773

$24.99

From the 1890s to the 1970s, the thriving area of Birmingham between Eighteenth and Twenty-first Streets along First, Second, and Third Avenues was the bustling heart of this quickly growing city. Before the age of the shopping mall, the downtown was the center of retail and entertainment in Birmingham. Along these streets, entrepreneurial immigrants built department stores--including Pizitz and Loveman, Joseph, and Loeb--while the marquees of the Alabama, Ritz, and Lyric theaters, among others, shined over the busy downtown sidewalks.