Fourth Avenue Historic District (Birmingham, Alabama)

{{short description|Historic district in Alabama, United States}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Fourth Avenue Historic District | nrhp_type = | image = 4th Avenue Birmingham Nov 2011 02.jpg | caption = | location= 1600–1800 blks of 4th Ave. N and part of the 300 blks of 17th and 18th Sts. N, Birmingham, Alabama | locmapin = Alabama | built = 1922 | architect = Taylor, Robert R., Persley, Louis H., Woods, Walter T. | architecture = Art Deco, Victorian commercial | added = February 11, 1982 | area = {{convert|4.2|acre|ha}} | refnum = 82002041<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a}}</ref> }}

The '''Fourth Avenue Historic District''' in Birmingham, Alabama was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The listing included 17 contributing buildings on {{convert|4.2|acre|ha}}. It includes the 1600–1800 blocks of 4th Ave., N. and part of the 300 blocks of 17th and 18th Sts., N.<ref name=nris/>

== History == left|thumb|Colored Masonic Temple One reason that it was deemed significant is that the district "is the only place left in the city which tells the story of the Jim Crow years in Birmingham (1908–1941). Prohibited from patronizing white restaurants, movie theaters, and personal service establishments, blacks developed businesses in those areas to serve their community. They also offered professional services (medical and legal) to the black community. Although now somewhat diminished by the demolition of some structures and the dispersal of black life that has come with integration and suburban expansion, important structures remain which document what was once the center of commercial activity in black Birmingham."<ref name=nrhpdoc/>

It includes works by architects Robert R. Taylor, Louis H. Persley, Walter T. Woods and others. The area features Art Deco architecture and commercial Victorian architecture.

It includes: *Alabama Penny Savings Bank, (or Pythian Temple), which was already separately listed on the National Register. *Colored Masonic Temple (1922; or 'Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge'), a seven-story building<ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=82002041}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Fourth Avenue Historic District |publisher=National Park Service|author=Ann M. Burkharrdt |date=August 1981 |accessdate=July 25, 2019}} With {{NRHP url|id=82002041|photos=y|title=accompanying 11 photos from 1977 and 1980}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Edgemon |first=Erin |date=2017-02-26 |title=Birmingham civil rights landmark launches fundraiser |url=https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2017/02/birminghams_colored_masonic_te.html |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=al |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2017-04-13 |title=Building History: Inside the closed Masonic Temple in downtown Birmingham |url=https://www.birminghamtimes.com/2017/04/building-history-behind-the-locked-doors-of-birminghams-landmark-masonic-temple/ |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=The Birmingham Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{commons category|Fourth Avenue Historic District (Birmingham, Alabama)}}

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Birmingham, Alabama Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Category:Art Deco architecture in Alabama Category:African-American history of Alabama