Birmingham’s nickname, “The Magic City,” is a nod to its rapid growth as an industrial powerhouse beginning in the 1880s, and many of its railroads from that era are the foundation of the city’s burgeoning trail system. Today, a 46-foot-tall sign modeled after a historical sign once bearing the city’s moniker stands at the entrance to downtown’s Rotary Trail. A gift to the city by the Rotary Club of Birmingham, the pathway transformed a blighted railroad corridor into a four-block community asset flanked by lush landscaping and artistic sculptures.
Rotary Trail
Named after a local advocate, the Richard Martin Trail stretches for 10 miles from the Tennessee border through cotton fields, wetlands and wooded areas to the outskirts of Athens in north- central Alabama. Following the route of the 1850s-era Alabama and Tennessee River Railroad, which transported troops during the Civil War, the rail-trail provides numerous learning opportunities with historical markers, a trailside depot and refurbished railcar, and passage by the site of the 1864 Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle.
Richard Martin Trail
Rails to Trails MAGAZINE | SPRING/SUMMER 2025
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