Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park
SW corner 4th Ave and 18th St N. Walking on the south side of the street to get a fl avor of district life, go a block east to
the corner of 4th Ave and 18th Street to fi nd Eddie Kendrick
Memorial Park, honoring the Birmingham native and Temptations
lead singer. Step inside the park to fully enjoy the lively sculpture.
(Kendrick added an s to his name for the stage.)
Alabama Penny Savings Bank / Pythian Temple Building
310 18th St N. Mid-block to the south on 18th Street is the Alabama Penny Savings Bank (1913; later Pythian Temple), also
designed by an African-American architect and built by a black
construction company. A pastor of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
was among the founders of the Alabama Penny Savings Bank,
the state s fi rst black-owned bank and the second largest
African-American bank in the country in 1907. The building initially
housed the offi ces of The Birmingham Reporter and the Colored
Citizens League of Birmingham, as well as the offi ces of the fi rst
black attorney to practice in Birmingham. The building was later
acquired by the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal organization.
Lyric Theatre
1800 3rd Ave N. At the corner of 18th Street and 3rd Ave N, the Lyric Theatre (1913) recalls the entertainment district that
once boasted a dozen or more theaters within a few blocks of
here. The Lyric opened in January 1914 as a vaudeville venue,
where stars such as Will Rogers, Jack Benny, Mae West, and
the Marx brothers, among others, played in its elegant interior.
When vaudeville declined, it became a movie house. After years
of neglect and deterioration, an $11 million restoration has given
the Lyric a new life.
DOWNTOWN WEST
Fourth Avenue Historic District
1600-1800 blocks of 4th Ave N & parts of the 300 blocks of 17th & 18th St N. Walk around to the south side of Kelly Ingram Park and take 17th Street a block to the Fourth Avenue Historic
District. The district, which is listed in the National Register of
Historic Places, is a remnant of what was once the heart of
Birmingham s black social, cultural, and professional life, during
the Jim Crow era of racial segregation.
Masonic Temple Building
1630 4th Ave N. Built by the same African-American
construction company as
Sixteenth Street Baptist
Church, the Masonic Temple
Building (1922) was designed by two black architects (one, the
fi rst black graduate of MIT, 1892, taught at Tuskegee Institute).
Lawyers, doctors, dentists, journalists, and other infl uential
members of the African-American community had their offi ces
here. This includes the offi ce of attorney Arthur Shores, who
prepared milestone civil rights cases that helped end legal
segregation. The building s second-fl oor ballroom, where jazz
greats such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie played, was
a center of black social life as well.
Carver Cinema / Jazz Hall of Fame
1631 4th Ave N. The Carver Cinema/Jazz Hall of Fame
(ca. 1941) is notable for its
Art Moderne architecture as
well as exhibits that tell the
story of jazz and the well-
known musicians with ties to
Birmingham and Alabama.