A History of Vestavia Hills - Vestavia Hills, AL - Alabama Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The marker is an engraved granite slab located in a small park on US Hwy 31 at the crest of Shades Crest. The plaque was presented to the City of Vestavia Hills by the Vestavia Bicentennial Commission. The Temple of Sibyl was donated to the city of Vestavia Hills by Vestavia Hills Baptist Church. The temple is listed in Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Marker Name: A History of Vestavia Hills Marker Type: Urban Addtional Information:: Marker Text: In 1924, George Ward, a former mayor of Birmingham, 1905-1909, 1913-1914, visited the City of Rome, Italy. He was so intrigued by the unique beauty of the Temple of the Vestal Virgins on a Roman hilltop that he vowed to build a replica of it on a chosen site near Birmingham. The site he selected was on a beautiful crest of Shades Mountain approximately two miles east of here. The temple was completed in 1925. In Roman mythology, Vesta was the goddess of fire and of the family hearth, she was also the guardian angel of mankind. The temple was guarded by six Vestal virgins whose duties were to maintain the temple's eternal flame. Mayor Ward called his temple Vestavia. The area surrounding the temple soon became a thriving suburban city. The name Vestavia Hills naturally evolved. The structure above was the original summer house, The Temple of Sibyl The Prophetess. When the Vestavia Temple was destroyed, the Vestavia Hills Garden Club was responsible for moving the Temple of Sibyl to the present site. The rendering above is a replica of Mayor Ward's Vestavia Temple. Date Dedicated / Placed: 1976 Marker Number: None

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/17/2014 KesselRun visited it