Homewood drivers now have a free, narrated way to learn how their city grew from scattered farmland into the five wards residents know today. The Homewood Historic Preservation Commission has rolled out a self-guided driving tour covering the people, neighborhoods and landmarks that shaped the city over the past century, with 16 audio and text stops spread across the community.
The tour, detailed on the City of Homewood's website, lets participants start wherever they like and either explore a single area or spend about an hour working through the whole route, as reported by Homewood Star. Stops are organized around Rosedale, West Homewood, Edgewood, Lakeshore, Mayfair, Windsor and Hollywood, according to the city, tracing Homewood's shift from rural farmland and old streetcar communities into the city it is today.
Landmarks From Rosedale to Hollywood
Featured sites along the route include the Rosedale Historic District, Edgewood Lake, the former Zelosophian Academy site, the Pink House, the 1870s McDaniel House, Samford University and a cluster of historic homes in Hollywood, per the city's account of the tour. Other stops dig into lesser-known chapters of local history, including the Kent family's dairy farm, the old Edgewood Electric Railway, Homewood's shopping district known as the Curve, and the former Hollywood Country Club site.
For drivers who want to jump straight into a particular neighborhood, the tour suggests several starting points: 18th Street South and 26th Avenue South in Rosedale, Oak Grove Road and Oxmoor Road in West Homewood, Oxmoor Road and Broadway in Edgewood, the Samford University and Lakeshore Parkway area, and Hollywood Boulevard and Bonita Drive. Along the way, the tour weaves in archival photographs pulled from the Homewood Public Library, the Birmingham Public Library Archives and the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
A Familiar Voice Behind the Narration
The tour is narrated by Shelia Snoddy, who is known to many area residents as Jill Friday from her years in radio, according to the city's description of the project. The tour is free and can be accessed through the TravelStorys app on iOS and Android or explored online, the city notes.
Development of the tour was funded by the City of Homewood and partly through a Historic Preservation Fund Grant-in-Aid from the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service. The Rosedale Historic District featured on the tour has its own documented history, including records held by the National Park Service and the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
A 2026 Hollywood Home Tour
The Historic Hollywood Home Tour, organized by the Hollywood Garden Club, was scheduled for April 19, 2026, as a curated collection of four private residences that visitors could tackle in any order, starting at whichever house they chose, according to Birmingham Parent.
