Terminal Station
Archival Drawings
AR 1804

Overview

As Birmingham emerged as a center of industry and transportation around the turn of the nineteenth century, Birmingham’s Terminal Station was built to accommodate the city’s rapidly increasing volume of rail traffic. Completed in 1909 and located along Twenty-Sixth Street North between Fourth and Sixth Avenues, Terminal Station accommodated six of the seven rail lines that served Birmingham. Philip Thornton Marye designed the grand Beaux Arts station, considered the most elaborate in the South, with a large central dome and flanking towers. Terminal Station was a center of activity in Birmingham for many years but with the decline in rail transportation in the 1950s and 1960s, use of the station declined. Though several alternative uses for the station were proposed, none were found feasible, and Terminal Station was demolished in 1969.

Scope and Content

This collection contains copies of twelve original drawings of Terminal Station, some by architect P. Thornton Marye. The collection includes plans, sections, elevations, and other drawings of Terminal Station.



Sources

White, Marjorie Longenecker. Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide. Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Publishing Company. Publication of the Birmingham Historical Society & First National Bank of Birmingham.

Terminal Station Section. Collection #1804. Terminal Station Collection. Birmingham Public Library. Department of Archives and Manuscripts.