If you live in Birmingham you’ve likely passed the intersection of 1st Avenue North and 21st Street many times. The Elyton Hotel - complete with the famed Moon Shine rooftop bar and restaurant - is one of the four tall buildings that calls a corner home. So does the John Hand Building which houses Shipt amongst other large Birmingham businesses - along with the famed John Hand Club. The newly renovated Fairfield Inn & Suites is another notable tenant of this happening crossroads. For all that this intersection brings to the Magic City now, the four buildings that call it home have brought worldwide attention since they were first erected during a time when Birmingham was just finding its magic.
The first of the four buildings to be constructed was the 10-story Woodward building in 1902, followed by the 16-story behemoth then called the Brown Marx building in 1906. Next came the 16-floor Empire building in 1909. The tallest building came last, with the 21-story American Trust and Savings Bank building coming in 1912. The four buildings were noticeably taller than structures found in city’s throughout the South at the turn of the 20th century. A reference to this fact in Jemison Magazine while the American Trust building was being constructed informed readers that Birmingham would soon have the “Heaviest Corner in the South.”
Legend of the monumental intersection grew quickly, and the area was soon dubbed the “Heaviest Corner on Earth.” The construction occurred during Birmingham’s largest growth era as the city was experiencing an industrial boom. The city grow massively in size after several towns were absorbed into the metro in 1910. The sudden growth made Birmingham known as the “Magic City”, “Pittsburgh of the South”, and the “Iron City”. The corner was stuff of urban legend for years, and received its official standing as a Southern landmark with the 1985 erection of a historical marker by the Birmingham Historical Society. The group of buildings was also officially listed by the National Register of Historical Places in that same year.
Other cities may have taller skyscrapers that seem to dwarf our 1st Avenue wonders in comparison, but only Birmingham can claim to have the Heaviest Corner on Earth!
Cover image from Elyton Hotel
