Marjorie Gross wrote for a blog.
The Heaviest Corner on Earth is a promotional name given to the corner of 20th Street and 1st Avenue North in Birmingham , Alabama , United States , in the early 20th century .. Birmingham. Birmingham, Alabama. Alabama. Alabama. The name reflected the nearly simultaneous appearance of four of the tallest buildings in the South , the 10-story Woodward Building -LRB- 1902 -RRB- , 16-story Brown Marx Building -LRB- 1906 -RRB- , 16-story Empire Building -LRB- 1909 -RRB- , and the 21-story American Trust and Savings Bank Building -LRB- 1912 -RRB- .. South. Southern United States. American Trust and Savings Bank Building. John Hand Building. The announcement of the last building was made in the Jemison Magazine in a January 1911 article titled `` Birmingham to Have the Heaviest Corner in the South '' .. Birmingham. Birmingham, Alabama. South. Southern United States. Over the years , that claim was inflated to the improbable `` Heaviest Corner on Earth '' , which remains a popular name for the grouping .. A marker , erected on May 23 , 1985 by the Birmingham Historical Society , with cooperation from Operation New Birmingham , stands on the sidewalk outside the Empire Building describing the group .. Birmingham. Birmingham, Alabama. The buildings have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places  : the Woodward Building was listed on June 30 , 1983 ; the building on the southeastern corner of the intersection , now named the `` First National-John A. Hand Building , '' on September 29 , 1983 ; and the remaining buildings , on July 11 , 1985 .. National Register of Historic Places. National Register of Historic Places