Auto Transport To & From Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, was founded in 1871 – shortly after the U.S. Civil War had ended – as part of the Reconstruction plan started under the Lincoln administration. It was centered on manufacturing, primarily iron-and-steelworks, and was named after the manufacturing city of Birmingham, England. Easily the largest city in Alabama, the city proper has almost 250,000 people residing there and the greater Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan area houses over 1,000,000 people. It is also home to five Fortune 1000 companies and 1 Fortune 500 company, and is the site for many major developments and breakthroughs in banking, medicine, publishing, and biotechnology.
Birmingham was founded in 1871 by real estate investors who wanted to start selling lots in the area. It was serviced by the Alabama & Chattanooga and the South & North Railroads, which served as a crossroads of sorts and gave the city validation at the time. Soon after founding, a trading post was built by the Yielding family (who still own it to this day), and the city began to flourish.
The city is known for its manufacturing production, particularly of steel. It is the only place – worldwide – that has the three main components of steel (iron ore, coal and limestone) in such close proximity, and the city quickly became dependent on the manufacturing sector. From there, the economy boomed and the city grew by leaps and bounds. However, by the time of the Great Depression, the city’s infrastructure crumbled as the farm workers bailed to find work in the bigger cities, and its source of income was cut off (because of the lack of raw materials being mined during the Depression). However, through several key New Deal programs, Birmingham came through the depression shining, with beautification projects, cultural projects and more being cultivated to bring the city back into the limelight.
But Birmingham hasn’t been all fun and games. In the 1950’s and 60’s, the city was the center of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement, which culminated in Martin Luther King, Jr. launching his famous “Project C” campaign to rid the city (and the United States) of racial segregation. From a Birmingham jail, King wrote his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which gave a clear purpose to his campaign. Throughout the ordeal, Birmingham was the site of four separate racially-motivated bombings, and made national news more than once.
After the Civil Rights movement had drawn to a close, Birmingham began to retool its image into a bright, modern city. It began focusing on urban renewal, and its banking institutions and medical centers began to flourish. Despite new skyscrapers going up at the end of the 1970’s (which marked the first time a skyscraper was built in Birmingham since the start of the Great Depression), people were still flocking to suburbs in record numbers, and it is these newer suburbs that keeps Birmingham growing at the rate that it is.
Birmingham’s weather and climate is typical of most southern cities, with highs ranging typically between the low-to-mid 80’s in the summer, and mid-to-high 50’s during the winter. Lows can get as cold as 45 degrees in the summer and 35-40 degrees during the winter – overall, it’s a very mellow climate without too much precipitation or baking heat. It also has some of the best schools – the magazine Newsweek went so far as to rate a Birmingham high school as the #1 school in the nation for academics, and it is also home to many state colleges and universities.
If you’re looking to move to Birmingham, or looking to leave (but why would you?), go ahead and give us a call. We can get you ten free quotes from ten different American auto shipping companies, or you can fill out our free form on our website. Either way, get free quotes to ship your car, and if you do decide to call you can call us at 800-930-7417.