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1907 Map of Birmingham

Name: 1907 Topographic Map of Birmingham
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1916
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1916

About this map

Industrial growth and iron-age expansion define the landscape in this early twentieth-century survey, centered on the burgeoning city of Birmingham. The map documents a dense network of early industrial settlements including Pratt City, Ensley, and Wylam, all supported by an intricate rail system featuring the Louisville and Nashville RR and Southern Ry. These rail lines weave through the ridges of Red Mountain and Sand Mountain, connecting the urban core to outlying operations like the Watts Mines and Coaldale.

Beyond the industrial center, the map reveals a deeply rural hinterland along the Mulberry Fork and Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River. Significant local history is preserved in the locations of country institutions like the Bex Schoolhouse and Little Bethel Church, alongside numerous family-named landmarks like Guthrie Mill and Johnson Point. The survey captures the region just as it emerged as the primary industrial hub of the Deep South, before later urban expansion reshaped these outlying farming and mining communities.