GPS City GuideBirminghamWatts Building

Stop 18 of 25 · Birmingham audio walking tour

Watts Building

Birmingham · 1927 · Art Deco landmark rises

What you'll hear here: about a minute on Watts Building — the story behind what you're looking at, playing hands-free as you arrive.

The Watts Building has marked this Birmingham, Alabama block since 1927. This Art Deco building was built in 1927, and its presence here has marked the block ever since. Take a moment to breathe in the city and imagine a structure raised in 1927, all the confidence of that year made visible in clean vertical lines and geometric calm.

As you walk the perimeter, notice how its form reads as a single statement from another era — designed and completed in 1927 and later honored in 1979, when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Think of those two dates as anchors: 1927 when the building was built, and 1979 when it earned national recognition on the NRHP. They bracket a life that belongs to Birmingham and to you in this moment.

Let your hands hover near the base, let your head tilt to follow its rise, and let your ears pick up the sounds of the street that have passed it by. Two dates bracket its life, 1927 and 1979, and the streets of Birmingham still frame those clean Art Deco lines.

Where it is

Coordinates
33.51667, -86.80694
Area
Birmingham
Era
1927 · Art Deco landmark rises
Start the Birmingham tour →

Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.