Jefferson

Formed December 13, 1819 (27^th county)

Jefferson County (674,355), Birmingham (200,646)                

A masonry and concrete courthouse with brass doors was built in 1931 and renovated in 2002.  An earlier courthouse was built in 1887 in Birmingham.  Jefferson County was established on December 13, 1819 from Blount County as the 27^th county.  The building sits on Richard Arrington between 7^th and 8^th avenues.  It is two blocks south of Interstate Highways 20/59.  Holabird and Root and Harry Wheelock were the architects in the Art Deco style.  Bessemer has an augmenting courthouse built in 2009.  A Criminal Justice Center was added in 1986.  Birmingham was named for Birmingham, United Kingdom.  The county is named for President Thomas Jefferson.  Carrollville (1819), Elyton (1820), and Birmingham (1873) have all been the county seat. 

Jefferson County government consists of a sheriff, revenue commissioner, and coroner (executive).  It has 5 commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-five Circuit Judges, Seventeen District Judges, a District Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Jefferson County (judicial.)  The county is situated in the north central part of the state.  The center of the county is in Birmingham 2.3 miles West-Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Blount, St. Clair, Shelby, Bibb, Tuscaloosa, and Walker counties.  Birmingham is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 29.8% of the county population.

The county has an area of 1111.3 square miles.  It ranks 5 out of 67 in size.  It ranks 1 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 598.8 persons per square mile making it 1 out of 67 in the state.  Jefferson County has 83.4% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 20 crosses from east, St. Clair County, to southwest, Tuscaloosa County.  Interstate Highway 59 enters from St. Clair County on the northeast, joins Interstate Highway 20 in Birmingham, and exits southwest into Tuscaloosa County.  Interstate Highway 65 crosses north to south through the county from Blount County into Shelby County.  United States Highway 11 parallels Interstate Highway 59 from St. Clair County to Tuscaloosa County.  United States Highway 31 parallels Interstate Highway 65 from Blount County to Shelby County.  United States Highway 78 parallels Interstate Highway 20 from St. Clair County on the east, splits away in Birmingham, and exits northwest into Walker County.  United States Highway 280 originates in Jefferson County and travels southeast into Shelby County.  The county is a “bag of popcorn” tilted northeast.  There are a few straight lines as borders.  Birmingham dominates the county but is mostly east of county center and extends into Shelby County.  The county is in the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area.