Tag Archives: Jefferson County

-Alabama, Houses

The Copeland Mansion of Birmingham, Alabama

Leave a comment

The John R. and Susie Copeland Mansion is located in Birmingham’s Norwood neighborhood. The Copelands married in 1889 and had five children. John Copeland was president of Copeland-Inglis Shale Brick Company and held multiple positions at Alabama Paving Company. He also served as an alderman for the town.

Construction on the home began in 1905 and was completed in 1906 for $8,000. Today, that would be approximately $270,000.

Announcement in the December 22, 1904 edition of The Birmingham News.

Norwood began as a trolley suburb, but following desegregation, many white residents moved farther from downtown. In fact, Copeland relocated to Ohio by 1930. Once known as “The Placid Place” for its scenic lake and location north of town, Norwood, like many neighborhoods across the United States, experienced significant decline over time.

-Alabama, Black History, Signs

A Restored Greyhound Bus Station in Birmingham, Alabama

Leave a comment

In downtown Birmingham, a recently restored Greyhound Bus Station serves as a reminder of Greyhound’s heyday. Built in 1952 by William Strudwick Arrasmith, noted for his designs of Greyhound Bus Stations, the Streamline Moderne building was one of the many bus stations that the Freedom Riders passed through to force bus desegregation.

The station was a key location for the civil rights movement. On May 14, 1961, two buses left Atlanta, Georgia, bound for New Orleans. White supremacists attacked the civil rights activists and slashed one bus’s tires. The driver was able to leave, but the mob stopped the bus and threw a firebomb into it. When the second bus arrived in Birmingham, they were greeted by Ku Klux Klansmen who had been tipped off by Police Commissioner Bull Conner, who told them they had fifteen minutes where they could freely attack the Freedom Riders.

After Greyhound moved operations in 2017, the building sat vacant until it was recently restored. The restoration uncovered many hidden mid-century details that can be seen today, like the bus marquee and the iconic silver greyhound.

-Kentucky, Black History, Hotels and Motels

Louisville’s Allen Hotel-A Green Book Listing

Leave a comment

Built in 1926 and located on West Madison Street, the Allen Hotel was once Louisville’s largest hotel for Black guests during segregation. Featured in the Negro Motorist Green Book, it offered safe lodging when few places would. Notable figures, such as boxer Joe Louis, stayed in the fifty-room building.

The building is still in use today as part of an apartment complex.

1948 image of the hotel (Courtesy of the University of Louisville)
-Kentucky, Black History, Cemeteries, Vernacular Headstones

Greenwood Cemetery of Louisville, Kentucky

Leave a comment

Greenwood Cemetery was founded in 1903 in Louisville, Kentucky. It is a historic Black cemetery that fell into disrepair after neglectful owners stopped caring for it. In recent years, the local chapter of the National Association for Black Veterans (NABVETS) has volunteered its time to assist with upkeep. It’s estimated there are at least 800 veterans buried in the cemetery. 

The NABVETS are there almost every Saturday helping maintain and improve the cemetery grounds.

If you would like to follow along to see the progress on the cemetery, you can find more info on their two Facebook pages. This one seems a bit more active.

-Kentucky, Houses, National Register of Historic Places

The Ouerbacker-Clement House of Louisville, Kentucky

Leave a comment

The Ouerbacker-Clement House, located at 1633 West Jefferson Street in Louisville’s Russell neighborhood, is a historic mansion built in 1860 in the Richardsonian-Romanesque style. Originally owned by George Moore and later by steamboat captain Alexander Gilmore, the home was expanded in the 1890s by renowned architects Arthur Loomis and Charles Clarke.

Over the years, it housed local figures such as Samuel Ouerbacker, a coffee merchant, and Reverend George Clement and his son Rufus Clement, who later became the president of Atlanta University, now known as Clark Atlanta University.

Eventually the mansion served as a tax service office for 70 years until the city seized the property for unpaid taxes. The property languished until the city sold it for $1 in 2014. The company that purchased it restored and converted into six apartments.

-Kentucky, Houses, National Register of Historic Places

Omega Psi Phi House in Louisville, Kentucky

2 Comments

The Italianate located on Chestnut Street is also known as the Doerhoefer-Hampton House. It was built in 1887 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The local chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity purchased the home in 2019 and restored it. It now serves as their local headquarters and meeting space.

This image is from the 1979 nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
This image is from the 1979 nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.