Linn Park, Birmingham

Linn Park is a seven-acre urban green space at the heart of downtown Birmingham. Framed by major civic landmarks-Birmingham City Hall to the west and the Jefferson County Courthouse to the east-the park occupies a full city block and plays a central role in the city’s cultural and civic life.

Once known as Capitol Park, Woodrow Wilson Park, and Central Park, the space was renamed in the 1980s after Charles Linn, a Confederate naval officer and early Birmingham businessman. The park has long served as Birmingham’s primary civic square, hosting major public events like the Birmingham Christmas tree lighting, Magic City Art Connection, and Magic City Blues Fest. For two decades, it was also the site of the popular City Stages music festival (1989–2009).

The park's landscape is dotted with curving sidewalks and shaded by mature trees, leading visitors past a series of historical monuments. A large cast-iron fountain donated in the 1880s was installed in the park in 1891. Sculptor Giuseppe Moretti contributed two early 20th-century monuments here-one honoring physician William Elias B. Davis (1904), the other schoolteacher Mary Cahalan (1908).

For much of the 20th century, Linn Park featured a 52-foot Confederate monument, erected between 1894 and 1905. It, along with a 2013 statue of Charles Linn, became targets during the 2020 George Floyd protests. Both were damaged or removed, prompting a lawsuit from the state’s attorney general.

Today, Linn Park remains a place of gathering, reflection, and transformation-a historic yet evolving space at the core of Birmingham's civic identity.