Designs on Birmingham: A Landscape History of a Southern City and Its Suburbs

This illustrated, seventy-page publication of the Birmingham Historical Society offers perspective on the city’s planning and development, from its earliest phases through 1989. This guide to designed landscapes of metropolitan Birmingham includes a collection of essays, photographs, plans, drawings, and maps, providing detailed insight into the decades of urban planning and landscape architecture which have shaped the city’s present day environments, from its founding to the recent past.

Images from Designs on Birmingham

 

A rendering of the 1919 vision of the Future Greater Birmingham District
A rendering from 1912 depicts a grid plan transitioning to curved roads and parkways along Red Mountain.
Promotional material for Jemison & Company.
Plan for Tutwiler Estate
Prior to gasoline powered equipment, all work was done by hand, horse and steam.
Linn Park surrounded by Victorian residences, 1887
Riverchase master plan, 1969-73.
Birmingham Green had a profound effect on the city’s core, 1986.
Newly renovated Linn Park in 1988.

This book is shelved in the Alabama Room and is for library use only.

All photos in this post are used with the express consent of the Birmingham Historical Society.