Bradley-Smith Residence

The Glen Iris Neighborhood represents a cross-section of Birmingham’s early 20th-century residential architecture. Most notable are the large houses and estates within Glen Iris Park and around Idlewild Circle that belonged to prominent business and professional leaders, including Robert Jemison, Sr., W. P. G. Harding, president of The First National Bank of Birmingham; attorney James McAdory Gillespy; and doctors George Morrow and E. Miller Robinson. Area development began about the turn of the 20th century, first within Robert Jemison, Sr.’s, exclusive Glen Iris Park and at Idlewild Circle, where T. H. Bradley was building and acquiring the land that was subsequently purchased by Mayor George Ward for Green Springs Park. A few of the Waverly Place houses also date from the very early 1900s. In 1907, this imposing Greek Revival-style mansion was constructed for attorney Lee C. Bradley. The red brick house was designed by Thomas Walter III with Sydney Ullman, who built several notable homes in the area including the residence of Robert Jemison, Sr. Influenced by his wife’s Louisiana ancestry, the Bradley’s home features a projecting four-column portico and a large, two-story wraparound porch supported by fourteen Corinthian columns.

Lee Carrington Bradley was born in Birmingham on November 12, 1871. His parents, Richard Carrington Bradley and Sarah Gurley Bradley were members of pioneer Alabama families. He graduated with an M. A. degree from Southern University in Greensboro (now Birmingham Southern College) in 1890. Lee C. Bradley began practicing law in Birmingham in 1892. He was appointed assistant county solicitor in 1893 and became county solicitor in 1896. On June 24, 1896, he and Eleanor Lyons were married, and the couple had their first child, Lee Carrington Bradley, Jr. in 1897. They had a second child, Thomas Lyons Bradley, in 1899. Sadly, Thomas died at the age of 21 while home from college after he choked to death on oyster shell shards at the kitchen table in the house. Following his death, Mrs. Bradley always had a place set at the dining table for him until her death. She lived in the house until 1967.

In 1904, he and John P. Tillman, Judge William I. Grubb, and Hugh Morrow organized the law firm of Tillman, Grubb, Bradley & Morrow. The firm went through a few changes in personnel over the years, becoming Bradley, Baldwin, All & White. Mr. Bradley was a member of the firm until his death. Lee C. Bradley’s fame as a lawyer was not only confined to Alabama, so when President Woodrow Wilson began looking around for someone to serve as counsel for the alien property custodian, he selected the Birmingham native, who distinguished himself in that office. It was through the instrumentality of Mr. Bradley that the alien property custodian was given authority to dispose of perishable goods taken over by him, which were deteriorating in warehouses and other storage facilities. He suggested to the custodian that he asks Congress to pass the necessary legislation empowering the custodian to sell or otherwise dispose of the perishable property. Mr. Bradley took the matter up with Senator Oscar W. Underwood, Democratic leader in the Senate, who attached an amendment to a bill coming up that day for passage. Senator Underwood explained the necessity and the urgency for the measure, and it passed without question, was sent to the House at once, and immediately passed by that body. Mr. Bradley served in this position without pay.

Returning home, Mr. Bradley resumed the law practice and was appointed by Judge Grubb of the United States District Court in Birmingham as receiver for the Birmingham Railway, Light, & Power Company, owner and operator of the street railway, gas, and electric utility system. He was largely responsible for the successful termination of the receivership and the organization of the Birmingham Electric Company, which took over the assets of the Birmingham Railway, Light & Power Company. Among his other business connections was that of director and member of the executive committee of the Birmingham Savings Bank & Trust Company. Lee Bradley was one of the organizers and for several years a stockholder in the Birmingham baseball club. He was also a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, the Birmingham, Alabama, and American Bar Association, the bar of the City of New York, and the Birmingham Country Club. Lee Carrington Bradley, Sr. died on May 31, 1942. His funeral was held at his residence, and he is buried in Elmwood Cemetery along with the rest of the Bradley family.

The house was later owned by Ollie and Carolyn Smith. When the Smiths acquired the house from the Bradleys, it was basically a time capsule, everything remained in the home. Mr. Ollie D. Smith was the youngest agent in the Washington, D.C. office of the FBI and then graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1947. He married Carolyn Meadows, and they had four children. Mrs. Smith taught for several years at Tarrant High School and Shades Valley High School. She later devoted her time to the family’s real estate business. Mr. Smith worked as an attorney at Martin, Turner & McWhorter which later became Balch & Bingham. He then became manager of the Land Department for Alabama Power Company, and eventually vice president of that company. Carolyn Smith died in 2003. Ollie Smith continued to live in the home until his death in 2016. In 2022, the property was transferred within the family to an LLC.

Redevelopment in Glen Iris brought changes in the 1960s and 1970s, most noticeably on Idlewild Circle, with several apartment and townhouse complexes, although new multi-family buildings are scattered throughout the neighborhood. Recent years have also brought the demolition of architecturally and historically significant properties in the Glen Iris Park neighborhood. Continued expansion of UAB and of a church (within the neighborhood) threatens to generate incompatible new construction, non-residential uses, and intrusive parking facilities. Mr. Smith, himself, was not helpful in preserving the character of the neighborhood and he acquired and razed several residences to erect low-rise apartment buildings. Neglected property of absentee owners, in the extreme amounting to demolition by neglect, is another major problem. Glen Iris Park remains an exceptional resource of city-wide significance that needs to be protected from the redevelopment.

Thank you for reading. Please share the blog with your friends. I appreciate the support.

You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. For more amazing, abandoned places from across Alabama, check out my books Abandoned Birmingham and Abandoned Alabama: Exploring the Heart of Dixie.