Often the residents of the Magic City tend to branch out and spread their dark leathery wings across new patches of sky, just outside of the Birmingham city limits sits a town called Vestavia Hills.
Vestavia was a city founded by a former Birmingham Mayor George Ward.
It is believed that the young mayor was what other Birmingham officials, called a "Goodie Two Shoes" as he was unwilling to oblige certain evils. While he was mayor of the Magic City he tried to clean it up.
And this angered the Dark Powers that be. So in 1907 , because Ward was cleaning up corruption fast, laws were immediately passed and all of a sudden the most powerful man in Birmingham was not the Mayor but the Sheriff of Birmingham.
Ward, felt some kind of way about it for a long time and eventually founded his own city over looking Birmingham and named Vestavia. He built a home there. He was known to have large numbers of pet peacocks walking around in his yard.
The origins of Vestavia Hills lie in the establishment of several estates by wealthy Birmingham residents who sought to escape from the twentieth century.
In his backyard he constructed "The Temple of Sibyl", a temple for Oracles. An Oracle is like a priestess, through whom God(s) and spirits communicate. They have been seen historically viewed in a sexual Nature like in the movie 300.
Oracles , like the one at Delphi would usually be kept in temples.
Ward built such a temple in his private property, as seen in this areal view photograph.
Ward was suspected to dabble in the Occult. Some were suspicious of Ward holding ritualistic Orgies in the temple.
(actual photo taken at Temple of Sibyl). Are these Oracles real or fake? It looks staged)
Some believe something bad happened in that Temple that frightened Ward.
Later is was moved from Wards home and donated to Vestavia Hills Garden club.
The development of Vestavia Hills as a residential suburb began in 1946, when developer Charles Byrd planned a subdivision for approximately 1,000 people on the southern flank of Shades Mountain. The suburb was incorporated as a separate city on November 8, 1950, and has since grown, by rapid development and annexation, into a thriving small city.
The racial makeup of the city is 90.4% White, 3.8% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 3.8% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, and 1.0% from two or more races. 2.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.03. The Median value of owner-occupied housing units was $318,200. The median household income was $87,154 with 4.0% of the population below the poverty line. The per capita income for the city was $50,017.
In the city, the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. 52.4% of the population is female.
The sites for both the junior high school and the high school were donated by members of the Pizitz family, founders of Birmingham's Pizitz Department Store and residents of Vestavia Hills.
Luis Pizitz attended Hebrew College in Poland, studying to become a rabbi,before emigrating to the United States in September 1889 in search of greater opportunity. He twice served as president of the Young Men's Hebrew Association. He raised funds for numerous diverse groups, including the Knights of Columbus and the YMCA as well as Hillel House. During the 1908 and 1933 coal miners' strikes he sent trucks of food to idled workers and bought mines to give them work. In 1914 when cotton prices bottomed out at 11¢ he bought the crop for 15¢ to store and sell after prices rose, promising to share the profits with the farmers. During World War I he headed the Liberty Bond drive. He was one of the founders of the Holy Name Hospital in Ensley and helped establish the first YMCA and public swimming pool for African Americans.
Today Vestavia Hills dishonors his memory.
Vestavia Hills High School is famous for it's Mascot "Johnny Reb" an avatar of the Confederate solider.
Vestavia Hills has no plans to change the mascot , the name of the design. As a matter of fact, in 2006, the Vestavia Hills Board of Education moved to petition the federal government to end the required desegregation busing of predominantly black students from the Shannon/Oxmoor Valley area due to "overcrowding".
In 2020 after the global aftermath of the George Floyd murder by Minn. Police, many business and organizations in respect of the Black community removed, hurtful and hateful propaganda. Vestavia Hill made a statement saying there will be no change, they will remain the 'Rebels' quite literally.
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