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1906 Map of Birmingham Coal District

Name: 1906 Topographic Map of Birmingham Coal District
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1912
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1912

About this map

Industrial expansion and coal mining define the landscape of Jefferson County during the first decade of the twentieth century. This survey documents the complex network of short-line and major railroads, including the Ensley Southern RR and the Kansas City Memphis and Birmingham RR, that serviced the region's active pits. Major extraction sites like Banner Mines, Kosmo Mines, and Gulf Mines appear alongside the residential hubs that supported them, such as Brookside and Adamsville.

Away from the rail lines, the map reveals a more rural social infrastructure. Small family-named landmarks and gathering places like Grahams Chapel, Mt Olive Church, and Grahams Mill are scattered across the ridges between Fivemile Creek and the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River. For genealogists, the inclusion of small, potentially vanished settlements like Red Wine, Stumptown, and Linn Crossing Oro PO provides a rare look at the district’s early community distribution.