Landmarks in Jefferson County, Alabama

Alabama Sports Hall of Fame

Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, 35203
The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is a state-run monument and museum dedicated to preserving and honoring the accomplishments of Alabamians in sports. It was founded in 1967. It is part of the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

Bethel Baptist Church, Parsonage, and Guardhouse

Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, 35207
The Bethel Baptist Church, Parsonage, and Guardhouse are associated with the first organized movement of the modern civil rights movement. The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights was headquartered here from 1956-1961.

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, 35203
Opened in November of 1992, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a large interpretive museum and research center that depicts the struggles of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

Birmingham Zoo

Bimingham, Jefferson County, Alabama
Founded in 1950, the 122 acre (49 hectare) Birmingham Zoo started with a small menagerie of exotic animals kept in a Southside firehouse. Today, it is home to approximately 750 animals of 250 species. It draws more than 450,000 visitors annually.

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church

Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, 35203
Called the First Colored Baptist Church of Birmingham when it was founded in 1873, this was the first black church to organize in Birmingham. In September 1963, the church was the target of a racially-motivated bombing that killed four girls.

Sloss Furnaces

Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, 35222
Sloss Furnaces was operated as a pig iron-producing blast furnace from 1882 to 1971. After closing it became one of the first industrial sites in the U.S. to be preserved for public use. The site currently serves as an interpretive museum of industry.

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, 35294
UAB began in 1936 as the Birmingham Extension Center of the University of Alabama. Highly renowned for its medical research and natural sciences programs, it is one of the larger research institutions in the Southeast.

Vulcan Statue

Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, 35209
At 56 foot (17 m) tall, the Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world. It is the largest statue ever constructed in the United States. It is the second-largest statue standing in the United States behind the Statue of Liberty.

Jefferson County, Alabama Landmarks