About Birmingham AL
Birmingham is a city in the state of Alabama that is situated in the north-central area of the state. It as well serves as the county seat for the Jefferson County, which is Alabama’s most populous county. The City of Birmingham was first established in the year 1872 at the height of the post US Civil War reconstruction epoch. It was created through the merger of 3 preexisting farm towns including Elyton. This Alabama city was named after the city that bears the same name in England, which at that particular period of time, was a major industrial hub in Great Britain.
Birmingham rapidly developed into a key industrial hub in the country whose economic might laid in the mining, iron and steel industries. It was as well a major hub for the railroad transportation industry. A big majority of the settler who founded this Alabama city were of English extraction. The City of Birmingham went on to develop into a region where cheap un-unionized labor could be employed in its steel mills and blast furnaces. This gave it the upper hand over most other unionized cities in the Midwest and Northeast region of the United States. Ever since its establishment, the City of Birmingham became the main industrial center for the south region of the country.
Its quick growth in the late 19th century went on to earn it the nicknames of ‘The Magic City,’ and the ‘Pittsburgh of the South.’ At this period of time, key components of the railroad industry, rails and railroad cars were crafted in this Alabama city. Later on, its economy started diversifying in the latter half of the 20th century. At this epoch the main stay of Birmingham’s economy centered on banking, telecoms, transportation, insurance, healthcare and education sectors. At the moment, the City of Birmingham is well noted for being one of the biggest banking hubs in the United States.
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The City of Birmingham has a distinctive Deep South cultural heritage that blends the Upper South cultural influences. This has been brought about by its strategic location as the gateway to and from these 2 regions of the United States. Birmingham is as well the cultural and entertainment capital of the state of Alabama. To which end, it is home to a wide variety of art galleries, most notably the Birmingham Museum of Art. This City of Birmingham museum has the distinction of being the biggest fine arts museum in the entire Southeast region. This Alabama city is also home to the state’s key ballet, opera and symphony orchestra companies. Some of the most prominent of which are the Alabama Ballet, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Ballet, the Birmingham Concert Chorale and the Opera Birmingham.
When it comes to performing arts centers, the City of Birmingham boasts of the historic Lyric Theatre that hosts a wide range of performing arts shows as well as concerts. There is as well the Alys Robinson Stephen Performing Arts Center, which is the home base for the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Opera Birmingham. The Alys Robinson Stephen Performing Arts Center is situated in the campus of the University of Alabama. Birmingham also boasts of the Jefferson Convention Complex, which comes complete with a theater, a concert hall, exhibition halls and a sports and concert arena. There is as well the historic Carver Theatre that houses the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
As for museums, the City of Birmingham is home to a good number of regionally and nationally acclaimed museums. This includes the earlier mentioned Birmingham Museum of Art, which has the distinction of been the biggest municipal art museum in the Southeast region. There is also the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute that is home to an in-depth and emotionally charged narrative exhibit of the city’s history during the US Civil Rights Movement.
Other notable museums in this Alabama city are the Southern Museum of Flight, the Sloss Furnaces National Historical Landmark, the Bessemer Hall of History, the Alabama Museum of Health Sciences to mention just but a few. There is also the McWane Science Center, which is home to an important collection of fossil specimen. The McWane Science Center offers hands-on science themed exhibits, temporary exhibitions and an IMAX dome theater. There is as well the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, which houses the biggest collection of motorcycles in the planet. Not to mention the Iron and Steel Museum of Alabama and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum
The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum was the brainchild of a famous Porsche race car driver; George Barber. Barber went down in history for bagging 63 races in the 1960s, and when he finally retired, he converted his passion for racing into a museum. Instead of cars, Barber began to collect motorcycles. The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum was first opened to the general public in 1995. His tastefully restored bikes went on to become a key part of the Guggenheim’s ‘the Art of Motorcycles’ exhibit. These bikes as well participate in numerous races of historic motorcycles. The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum now houses the biggest collection of motorcycles according to the Guinness Book of World Records. This City of Birmingham museum possesses over 1,400 bikes, with at least 650 of then been on display at any particular time. These motorcycles represent 200 different brands from around 20 different nations.
Birmingham Museum of Art
This arts museum was first opened to the general public in the mid 20th century and is situated in the City of Birmingham’s Cultural District. Its permanent collection of artworks is composed of more than 25,000 different objects that cover a wide variety of cultures. Some of the most prominent of these works of art include American, European, African, Asian, native Amerindian and pre-Columbian artworks. At the same time, this Birmingham museum for the arts has an impressive collection of Asian works of art, which is universally considered to be the finest of its kind in the entire Southeast region of the country. While its collection of Vietnamese ceramics is highly renowned for being one of the finest in the whole wide world. Some of the key attractions of the Birmingham Museum of Art’s permanent collection of works of art include Baroque and Renaissance paintings, sculptures, 18th century European decorative arts to mention just but a few.
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is one of the most popular attractions in the City of Birmingham and the entire state of Alabama at large. In essence, it serves as an educational and cultural research center whose mandate is to enlighten the future generations on the fields of human and civil rights. It carries out this objective by sharing and investigating the past in terms of the Civil Rights Movement of the mid 20th century. On the other hand, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute also provides visitors with the opportunity to work together to build a better future of tolerance. This City of Birmingham museum was first opened to the general public in the early 1990s, and now boasts of a 58,000 square feet space filled with archives, galleries, temporary exhibits and meeting rooms. Visitors to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute get to engage in self guided tours that commence with its permanent exhibit. This collection takes visitors on a journey from the 1950s, 1960s Civil Rights Movements all the way to contemporary human rights issues. As such, a visit to the City of Birmingham is never complete without finding time to explore the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.