Birmingham was a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia Co ...

, on the South Side of what is now

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Incorporated in 1826 from St. Clair Township, the borough comprised a section of the

South Side Flats The South Side Flats is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side area. It is located just south of the Monongahela River. The neighborhood has one of the City of Pittsburgh's largest concentrations of 19th-century homes, which ha ...

between what is now South 6th and South 17th Streets. Birmingham was laid out in 1811 by Dr. Nathaniel Bedford, son-in-law of John Ormsby. Bedford named the settlement after his native city,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in England. Birmingham became flanked by the boroughs of South Pittsburgh (created 1848) on the west and East Birmingham (1849) on the east. Those three and other nearby boroughs were merged into Pittsburgh in 1872. The namesake

Birmingham Bridge The Birmingham Bridge (known during construction as the Brady Street Bridge) is a bowstring arch bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which crosses over the Monongahela River. The bridge connects East Carson Street on the ...

is actually located at the former East Birmingham.

References

{{Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Geography of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania