Birmingham Photos of the Day (40): The Post Office in 1906

The magnificent building in the first photograph below stood on the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 18th Street. Constructed in 1893, the structure served as both federal courthouse and post office. The second photograph shows the building under construction in September 1892. New Orleans architect William Freret also designed some of the Woods Quad buildings at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

The BhamWiki site has more detail about the materials and design. That site also notes the building's fate:

"The courthouse was torn down in the 1920s to accommodate the expansion of a nearby retail store. That project was never realized and the lot was used in 1970 for a parking deck for Loveman's department store. The deck continues to serve the McWane Science Center."

One thing to notice about these two photographs taken 14 years apart are the different signs in the lower right corner and across the street. According to comments about the much larger version of the first photograph on the wonderful Shorpy site, Schindler's Saloon is advertising "Old Musty Ale." Herman D. Cable founded the Cable Piano Company in Chicago in 1880.

Source: U.S. Library of Congress Digitial Collections

Source: BhamWiki.com



Somerville's Historic Courthouse

On a recent trip from Huntsville back home to Pelham, I stopped at the old courthouse building just off state highway 36 in Somerville. That town is as old as the state, having been incorporated in 1819. Somerville served as the seat of Morgan County government until 1891. Morgan County was created as Cotaco County in February 1818 during the brief Alabama Territory period. The county was renamed in June 1821. The name "Cotaco" survives today as another small community in Morgan County.

The first wooden courthouse in Somerville was built around 1825; twelve years later the current building was constructed. The structure is the oldest courthouse building in Alabama. By 1891 much of the county's population lived in the towns of Decatur and New Decatur, and a vote resulted in the government's move to Decatur. The two sides of the historic marker seen below give further details about the town.

More detailed histories of the courthouses of Morgan County can be found in Samuel A. Rumore, Jr.'s article "Building Alabama's Courthouse: Morgan County" in the January 1989 issue of the Alabama Lawyer. That piece is one of many columns Mr. Rumore wrote for the journal on Alabama's county courthouses.