Avondale, Birmingham, Alabama

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Avondale, Alabama was a company town built around the Avondale Mills east of Birmingham, Alabama. The city was annexed into Birmingham and is now divided into three separate neighborhoods, [1]North Avondale, East Avondale and South Avondale.

Avondale Park, on the slopes of Red Mountain, included a natural spring that once flowed through the center of Spring Street (now 41st Street), the primary commercial center of Avondale. The Park was the largest in Birmingham until Ruffner Mountain Park was dedicated. It was known for the spring-fed grotto pool, an extensive rose garden, athletic fields, a secluded pavilion called "The Villa", and a large amphitheater that hosted a spectacular pageant in celebration of Birmingham's 50th anniversary in 1931.

The park was also one-time home of the Birmingham Zoo, which at the time consisted mainly of non-exotic species with the exception of "Miss Fancy", an erstwhile circus elephant purchased by the Birmingham Advertising Club as a promotional novelty and then donated to the city.

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