A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOMEWOOD

Homewood did not experience significant growth until the rapidly growing city of Birmingham suffered a major cholera epidemic in 1873. In response to the epidemic, many residents began moving to the countryside surrounding Birmingham to get away from the crowded city. The Edgewood area saw probably the greatest amount of development during this period boasting its own electric railway into downtown Birmingham by 1911, and a man made lake by 1915. The communities of Edgewood, Rosedale, and Grove Parc all voted to merge and incorporate under the Homewood name by 1920. The town of Hollywood became a part of the city in 1929.
The great depression and a polio epidemic which sickened 80 children severely damaged the social and economic fabric of the city. The regions economy picked back up as Birmingham's steel mills ramped up production for the WWII war effort. The city's population exploded, increasing by 74% between 1940 & 1950. Oak Grove was annexed into Homewood in 1955. For the most part, Homewood escaped the violence that plagued nearby Birmingham during the civil rights movement of the early 1960s, although an apparently racially motivated bombing did take place in Homewood's Rosedale community in 1963. In 1970, the city created its own school system, breaking away from the Jefferson County school system. The new Homewood High School opened in December 1972.

​NOTEWORTHY NEIGHBORHOODS

HOLLYWOOD

MAYFAIR

EDGEWOOD

SOHO

HALLMAN HILL

WEST HOMEWOOD

DOWNTOWN HOMEWOOD

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