If you are a history buff visiting Birmingham, Alabama, there are plenty of historically significant sites for you to check out. Every city has a history, and visiting new cities gives history-lovers a chance to really discover the past of a place.
Whether you only have a few hours to spend in Birmingham, or you are visiting for a few days or even longer, you will have plenty of history to learn and explore. Here are the most interesting local history spots to check out in Birmingham, Alabama:
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Civil rights is an extremely important component of Birmingham’s history, and no visit to Birmingham would be complete without visiting the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. While some of the artifacts on display may be difficult to see, it is important to learn from the past in order to move forward.
One of the most significant artifacts on display is the actual jail cell in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in 1963. Other displays and exhibits chronicle the history of the civil rights movement in Birmingham and how its affects even up to today.
16th Street Baptist Church
This is another difficult but important historical marker in the city. The 16th Street Baptist Church is right across the street from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. This may be the most well-known building in the city. It is the site of a 1963 bombing by the KKK in which four young girls were killed.
The church was targeted because it was a major meeting place for the civil rights movement and many acclaimed speakers stopped there. Today, you can schedule a guided tour of the church with 10 or more people, or you can tour the church on your own if you have a smaller group.
Sloss Furnace National Historic Landmark
Another large part of Birmingham’s history was the iron industry. A physical reminder of this period of Birmingham’s past is the Sloss Furnace National Historic Landmark. This landmark features the remains of the iron furnace.
If you are interested in the industrial past of the city, the Sloss Furnace National Historic Landmark is a can’t miss spot. This furnace was one of the largest manufacturers in the world at its peak. The plant closed in 1970, and today you can take a self-guided or group historical tour.
If all of this history has you excited to visit Birmingham, and maybe even looking at Birmingham homes for sale to make your visit more permanent, you are a true history lover. And these major historical sites only scratch the surface of the history of the city.
Be sure to check out these significant historical spots in Birmingham and plan some guided tours, if possible. But also be sure to check out some of the other and lesser known historical spots in the city. You can plan many visits to Birmingham just to take in all of the historical landmarks.
