The magic city

Birmingham Alabama is nicknamed, "The Magic City"!  Learning this, I now have a new sense of curiosity about the second largest city in the state.  The name was chosen in 1878, as in the early days this area experienced incredible growth producing steel for the country.  It was the only place on the planet where the soil produced the 3 essentials, in one area, to produce steel - limestone, coal and iron ore.  The area took on same name as the iron making city on the midlands of England - Birmingham.  

I drive into the downtown area of Birmingham. As I drive through this historic city, I find myself looking up at the modern buildings reaching for the skies mixed with the old historic buildings. I find a place to park and decide to hit the streets on foot for a more personal experience. My first encounter is at 20th Street and 1st Avenue North where one finds two markers claiming, "Heaviest Corner on Earth.” In the beginning of the 20th century (1900's), the area was littered with two-to-three story buildings and a few steeple churches. The steel industry boom brought this town into being the largest city in Alabama in a very short period of time. From 1902 to 1912, four massive skyscrapers shot up on the same city block. These early skyscrapers towered over the entire city giving it the title - Heaviest Corner on Earth. Today those same impressive buildings still stand!

A few blocks away I stroll into Linn looking for a most unique memorial - "Americas First National Veterans Day". Trying to read the old, weathered plaque I finally reach for my phone to search on Google. Wow! A WWII Veteran, Raymond Weeks, decided to organize a Veterans Day to be held on Armistice Day (the signing of a WWI truce). On November 11, 1947, people flocked to the streets to witness the first Veterans Day parade. Years later, 1954, a Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces during WWII, signed Veterans Day into a National Holiday. His name is President Eisenhower.

Birmingham celebrates this important remembrance day with the world's largest and longest Veterans Day parade in the United States.  I bring my eyes back to the weathered plaque.  I place my hand on Raymond Week's name smiling.  I whisper a thank you to all the men and women who courageously stands for this country in the past, present and future.  The first day in Birmingham - magical.