Thomas Worker Housing, Thomas, Jefferson County, AL

Significance: One of the Birmingham District's best examples of a late nineteenth and early twentieth century company town, the Thomas community presents a fine collection of early industrial housing types. The only industrial community in the District modeled directly on Pennsylvania prototypes, it represents an outstanding example of the direct transfer of company town planning, as well as housing types, from its American center in Pennsylvania to the South. The community is also significant because it shows a clear division in the planning of Southern industrial communities. Thomas' social geography demonstrates not only management-worker and black-white divisions, but also segregation by country of origin with immigrants from southern Europe houses along a different street than non-immigrants. House types include shotgun, pyramidal roof cottage and brick gable-front.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N128
Survey number: HAER AL-121