Marker Front:

This residential area was carved from the Joseph Riley Smith plantation, a 600 acre antebellum farm, one of the largest in 19th century Jefferson County. Smithfield lies to the west of Birmingham's city center on the flat land & hills north of Village Creek & has the city's earliest & most substantial concentration of black, middle-class residences, small commercial enclaves & churches. The neighborhood illustrates the lifestyles of a wide spectrum of black Birmingham citizens in the early 20th century, & provides an exceptional view of the emergence of a black white-collar class in the city. Residential structures include a variety of industrial housing types, as well as examples of the fashionable styles built for community leaders

Marker Reverse:

Dr. A. M. Brown, Prof. A. H. Parker & Rev. R. T. Brown, & the fine work of black architect Wallace A Rayfield & black contractor T. C. Windham. First lots were sold in 1882 & land formally subdivided in 1886 with streets & avenues named for the Smith family. Physician - planter - entrepreneur Smith deeded lots to family members who built homes on the ridge to the north, later known as College Hills.

The Smithfield & Joseph Riley Smith Historic Districts were entered into the National Register of Historic Places in October of 1985.

Erected May 18, 1986 by the Birmingham Historical Society & The Smithfield Community.

Marker is at the intersection of 8th Avenue West and Center Street North, on the right when traveling east on 8th Avenue West.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources: