Avondale

The City of Avondale was founded in 1987 by the Avondale Land Company, which was owned by Benjamin F. Roden, William Morris and Sumner. The purchase specified that the 40 rugged acres surrounding the spring remain dedicated as a park. The company financed a mule-drawn streetcar line along 1st Avenue North to the proposed business district on 41st Street.

The new town, incorporated in 1889, was named after the Cincinnati suburb of Avondale, which impressed the members of the company who had travelled there to seek backing for their development. The name Avondale is of Celtic origin, meaning "river.”

Avondale Mills was built just outside the limits of the town in 1897 and became one if the area's largest employers. Important manufacturer's in Avondale included the Smith Gin Company and the Avondale Stove and Foundry company.

As Avondale's commercial district grew, the Spring Branch, which was the spring's outlet, flowing north, adopted two open channels on either side of the street. Movements to improve the street by paving over the stream were frequently discussed, but it was not until Labor Day of 1925 that the street was finally paved and the stream conducted through a storm sewer in the center of the right-of-way.

Excerpt from BhamWiki