Five Points commemorated in new exhibit

More than a century ago, Five Points South was founded as a streetcar suburb of Birmingham called Highland. Since then, the area has seen the good and the bad — years of neglect and eventually a resurgence of commercial and residential growth. Now, the Vulcan Museum is paying tribute to Five Points South’s vibrant history with a new exhibit called “Patience, People and the Plan.” 

The exhibit opened June 24 and will run through May 2017. It is divided into four sections: “Early History,” “Transition,” “Revitalization” and “Five Points Today.” The sections work together to explain the history and current uses of the neighborhood’s most iconic buildings and businesses. 

In addition to written histories and archived photos from the Birmingham Public Library catalog, the exhibit features multiple relics from Five Points’ past. The culinary history of Five Points is represented through an original menu from Cobb Lane. The 1948 dress shop-turned-restaurant is often credited as being Birmingham’s first fine-dining establishment. 

More recent dining history is represented through a pair of menus from Frank Stitt’s award-winning restaurant, Highlands Bar and Grill. One is from when the restaurant opened 1982. The other is current. Vulcan Museum specialist Lindsay Elliot said it has been interesting to see how things change over time just by comparing the menus. As a bonus, Stitt lent the exhibit two of his James Beard Award medals.

The exhibit piece Elliot said she is most proud of, however, is the porcelain mold of “ram man” from Frank Fleming’s iconic Five Points Storyteller Fountain. 

“It was a neat piece and anytime I go in [the gallery], there are always people drawn to it,” she said. 

The Five Points exhibit was planned more than a year ago when organizers said they wanted to showcase a Birmingham neighborhood in the museum. With 99 individual neighborhoods to choose from, it wasn’t easy, Elliot said.

“We picked Five Points because it such a unique example of diversification here in Birmingham, and in the South in general,” she said. “It was such an interesting story to work on how people from all income levels and cultural backgrounds came together, and it was like that from the very beginning and still is today.”

Morgan Berney, Vulcan director of marketing and public relations, added that Vulcan being located in the Southside-Five Points neighborhood helped its case.

She said the Five Points exhibit fulfills one of Vulcan’s missions, which is to help people learn about Birmingham history and encourage them to explore what they see in the museum out in the city.

Elliot said the exhibit pays homage to the three major contributors to the success of Five Points.

“It was really the patience of everyone in the community to hear out what needed to happen and take the time to do it all,” she said. “And ultimately, it was the people who were a big part of doing all that.”

As evidence of progress, the exhibit features the 1980 revitalization plan for many Birmingham neighborhoods, including Five Points South. It serves as a reminder of how far the Five Points community has come in the past 30-plus years. 

“It’s been a model for a lot of places going forward, and people have modeled other revitalization efforts after it,” Elliot said.

“Patience, People and the Plan” is open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is included in the $6 Vulcan Park and Museum admission fee.