Heaviest Corner On Earth: Birmingham's Architectural Legacy

At the heart of downtown Birmingham stands the 'Heaviest Corner on Earth,' a testament to the city's rapid growth and architectural prowess in the early 1900s. The intersection of 1st Avenue North and 20th Street is home to four significant skyscrapers built between 1902 and 1912, which, at the time, were some of the tallest buildings in the South. The name 'Heaviest Corner on Earth' emerged following a 1911 article in Jemison Magazine, which proclaimed Birmingham to have the 'Heaviest Corner in the South'. This boast was based on the combined mass and height of the Woodward Building (1902), the Brown Marx Building (1906), the Empire Building (1909), and the John A. Hand Building (1912). The Woodward Building, the first of these skyscrapers, was erected in 1902 and was Birmingham's first steel-frame skyscraper, with a Chicago-style design. The Brown Marx Building followed in 1906, becoming a popular building as the South's largest office building. The Empire Building, completed in 1909, briefly held the title of Alabama's tallest building. Finally, the John A. Hand Building was completed in 1912. Today, the Heaviest Corner on Earth represents a significant collection of early skyscrapers and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.