Fourth Avenue Historic District

The Fourth Avenue Historic District is one block from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and easy to overlook, but it rewards attention. During the Jim Crow era, Fourth Avenue North was the commercial spine of Birmingham's Black community — a self-contained economic district built because Black entrepreneurs and customers were excluded from the rest of the city. The buildings that remain, mostly from the 1910s through 1930s, include the A.G. Gaston Motel where Dr. King coordinated the 1963 campaign.

The Taste of Fourth Avenue Jazz Festival animates the district every spring. Walking the block between 16th and 18th streets, alongside the Civil Rights Institute visit, gives a fuller picture of the segregated city than the institute's exhibits alone can provide.

things to do landmark
A story
Fourth Avenue North was the economic and cultural center of Birmingham's Black community during the segregation era — the 'Harlem of the South.' The district contained Black-owned banks, hotels, theaters, and professional offices, all on streets Black citizens could walk freely when they were barred from the rest of downtown. The Colored Masonic Temple and the A.G. Gaston Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. stayed during the 1963 campaign, are both on 4th Avenue.