Please bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert provided.
Join us as railroad historian Marvin Clemons presents his book “Great Temple of Travel: A Pictorial History of Birmingham Terminal Station.”
In 1909, at the height of passenger rail travel, a magnificent railroad station was constructed in Birmingham, Alabama to serve the rapidly growing “Magic City.” Hailed at its opening as “the Great Temple of Travel,” the imposing Byzantine and Beaux Arts structure, with its magnificent tiled dome and twin towers rising above Birmingham’s skyline, was considered the finest railway station in the New South. Incorporating design elements of Washington, D.C.’s Union Station and Istanbul, Turkey’s Hagia Sophia basilica, Terminal Station was “built to last the ages.” Yet incredibly, just 60 years after its construction, the magnificent structure fell to the wrecking ball, the victim of years of neglect and steady decline in rail passenger service.
The station’s destruction in 1969 was a devastating blow to Birmingham’s architectural heritage, but the loss produced a heightened awareness of the importance of preserving the city’s surviving historical structures. Although Terminal Station can never be replaced, its colorful history has been preserved in this first book-length account by through scores of rare photographs, art work, and detailed text.
Today's hours
We're open 9:00AM to 6:00PM
Mon, Apr 22 | 9:00AM to 8:00PM |
Tue, Apr 23 | 9:00AM to 8:00PM |
Wed, Apr 24 | 9:00AM to 6:00PM |
Thu, Apr 25 | 9:00AM to 8:00PM |
Fri, Apr 26 | 9:00AM to 6:00PM |
Sat, Apr 27 | 9:00AM to 6:00PM |
Sun, Apr 28 | 2:00PM to 6:00PM |