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Birmingham, Alabama, circa 1906. "First National Bank, 20th Street." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Below is the same view from February of 2021.
... on 1st Avenue, North West side intrigue me.
The first building on that side seems to be the Birmingham Trust building:
The building at the corner after the crossing must be the RODEN BLOCK, built by Benjamin Roden:
The park with the obelisk is Linn Park. The church to the right of it is the Cathedral Church of the Advent.
The bank building is the Frank Nelson Building. https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Frank_Nelson_Building
There's a lot more info at the wiki.
That is a license number assigned by the city. The motorist was required to provide his own numbers to display on the vehicle. In this case, digits were applied directly to the body. In most cases, owners made "plates" of leather pads to which the digits were affixed. B'ham started this system of auto registration in 1906 (which accurately dates the photo)and continued thru 1908. The city issued official plates of porcelain enameled steel for '09, '10 and '11. Starting in 1912 the state took over, requiring uniform plates statewide thus ending local licensing. More info (on all states) go to www.LeatherLicensePlates.com
"67" Is that what passed for a license "plate" in Alabama in 1906?
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