Birmingham, Kentucky
Birmingham was a town in Kentucky that was destroyed by the creation of Kentucky Lake. History. Birmingham was located on land owned by Thomas A. Grubbs in 1849, laid out and platted in 1853 and incorporated in 1860. Early residents included L. S. Locker, Thomas Love and Thomas C. Grubbs. Birmingham enjoyed prosperity shortly after the end of the Civil War when a stave mill and timber business employed over 200 people. Birmingham was named after Birmingham, England in hope that the city would establish its European namesake's iron industry; the area had its own nascent iron  industry, some remains of which can be viewed today in the Land Between the Lakes. Collins' "History of Kentucky" states that in 1874 Birmingham had a population of 322; by contrast, the county seat of Benton, Kentucky then had a population of only 158. By 1894 Birmingham had five churches, two schools, two hotels, four dry goods and general stores, three grocers, two millinery shops, two wagon and blacksmith shops and a drug store. By 1929 Birmingham still had around 600 residents. Around 1908, Birmingham drove its African American residents out of town, becoming a sundown town along with the  rest of Marshall County. Birmingham Marshall County Kentucky Night Riders succeeded in forcing almost all of the black residents to leave several small communities in southwest Kentucky. The two main targets, suffering repeated assaults, were the blacks in the small communities of Golden Pond in Trigg County and Birmingham in Marshall County. Economic motives lay behind the attacks. The blacks owned good farm lands or were employed by the tobacco trust. Since the end of the Civil War, Afro-Americans had lived in Birmingham, a port town on the Tennessee River. Commenting on this predominantly black area, the Courier-Journal  explained, “Birmingham has some of the best farming land in the Purchase, and around there is to be found practically the entire Negro population of Marshall County.” (Louisville Courier-Journal, March 11, 1908) Attacks on Birmingham blacks began in February, 1908. Toward the end of the month, after having suffered through several raids, community leaders finally went to the authorities, pleading in vain for protection. The black had been told to leave Birmingham but had refused to do so, and the mob now resorted to murder, apparently concluding that it would take more than a few warning sign and small  brush fires to oust the entrenched Afro-Americans. In addition to being landowners, some of the Birmingham blacks worked at the tobacco factory in the county, which further incensed the Night Riders. Officials of the tobacco company were warned to fire all Negro hands but had likewise failed to act. As a reporter for the Courier-Journal accurately predicted, the unwillingness of law officers to intervene sealed the fate of the Birmingham blacks: “Apparently encouraged by the failure of Marshall County officials to prosecute whitecaps who have warned and whipped blacks, 100 men road into Birmingham on March 8, and  shot seven men and whipped five others.” John Scruggs and his granddaughter died from wounds sustained during the raid. All of the blacks in the area were given another warning to sell their lands, resolve all of their personal and financial matters, and leave Birmingham within ten days. Most of the blacks soon left for Paducah or Nashville, and in their rush for safety they left behind household goods and farm equipment. A final story concerning the Birmingham blacks appeared in the Courier-Journal toward the end of March: “Only six blacks remain since the notices to leave town were  posted. A steamer from Marshall County brought in seventeen black families and their household goods. In all about 100 blacks got off the steamer when it arrived in Tennessee.” (Ibid., March 11, 17, 24, 28, 1908; Madisonville Hustler, March 17, 1908) Shortly after their successful removal of the Birmingham blacks the Night Riders adopted the practice that seems to have been wide-spread in Kentucky during the first two decades of the twentieth century and posted a sign near the railroad station in Marshall County telling anyone who somehow remained uninformed about the ousting of blacks that their community was  for whites only. The words “Niggers Don’t Let the Sun Set on You” were clear in their meaning; and against the backdrop of the destruction of property, whippings, and murders, these words must have invoked fear in Afro-Americans venturing in the county. Since the raid, Marshall County has had a reputation as a place where no blacks live, though this has actually become the case only in the last few decades. (Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1940 Lynchings, Mob Rule, and “Legal Lynchings” pages 137-138, by George C. Wright. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge and London  1990). The Tennessee Valley Authority announced the building of Kentucky Dam for the creation of Kentucky Lake in 1938, and at that time Birmingham's residents were informed that they must relocate. The TVA commenced land purchases in 1942. The dam was completed in 1944, and the entirety of Birmingham, Kentucky was submerged under the resulting lake, the largest manmade lake in the world at the time. Some residents of Birmingham had to relocate a second time due to the creation of Lake Barkley. When the water in Kentucky Lake is low, the remains of foundations and streets of Birmingham  are often visible, especially at Birmingham Point. Notable people. NBA star Joe Fulks was born in Birmingham.