The Cahaba Pump Station has been providing quality water services to Birmingham area residents since 1887.
A small settlement called New Merkel on the Cahaba River became the site of a new pumping station for the Birmingham Water Works Company in 1887. The Cahaba Pumping Station was to pump water from the reservoir on Shades Mountain for distribution throughout the city.
Constructing the station proved to be a tremendous feat of engineering and labor. Materials had to be transported from Birmingham across Red Mountain by an old railroad line. From Red Mountain, crude oxen-driven wagons hauled pipe, lumber, heavy machinery and supplies to the site across eight miles of trail no wider than a cow-path. Impeded by thickets and boulders, the journey from Birmingham took three backbreaking days.
Despite the difficulties, the Cahaba Pumping Station was completed in 1890 at a cost of about $500,000. Able to pump five million gallons of water daily, it took three years and thousands of labor hours to construct.
Today, this historic set of structures is more than a pumping station. It is a learning center and a working museum where people can view the process and history of the Birmingham Water Works. Several buildings have been renovated in keeping with their original design and house early tools, equipment, photographs and other artifacts. The original control building has been renovated to serve as a training and conference facility, complete with audio/visual equipment and teleconferencing technology.
Currently, the Cahaba Pumping Station Museum is a place where the past meets the present. Its history reveals the foresight and planning that have characterized the Birmingham Water Works from its earliest days.
The Cahaba Pump Station Museum is a beautiful, quiet and historic location for your next meeting.
Seating arrangements may be set up as follows:
- Theater Style Seats 70-100
- Dinner Style Seats 70-100
- Classroom Style Seats 50-70
Facilities will accommodate meals being catered in for your group.
Use of the Cahaba Museum as a meeting facility is for business and civic organizations only.
ABSOLUTELY NO POLITICAL ACTIVITY ALLOWED.
Private events such as weddings, wedding rehearsal dinners, baby showers, company Christmas parties and family reunions are welcomed.
Amenities:
- Tables and Chairs available for use:
- 20 - 4ft round tables
- 20 - 8ft rectangular tables
- 100 - chairs
- Free Wi-Fi, projector with screen, microphone
- Kitchen area has an ice machine, double oven, sink, refrigerator and microwave oven.
Make A Reservation:
For reservations, call (205) 967-0340, email [email protected] or BOOK ONLINE.
Directions:
The Historic Cahaba Pumping Station Museum l 4012 Sicard Hollow Road l Birmingham, Alabama 35243
From I-459 Get off at Exit 19, U.S. Highway 280 East (toward Childersburg):
Take first right onto Colonnade Drive. At the “T” go right on Blue Lake Drive approximately one mile. At the “Y” go right on Sicard Hollow Road. Entrance to Cahaba Pumping Station is on the left.
From U.S. Highway 280, East Cross I-459:
Take first right on to Colonnade Drive. At the “T” go right on Blue Lake Drive, approximately one mile. At the “Y” go right on Sicard Hollow Road. Entrance to Cahaba Pumping Station is on the left.
From U.S. Highway 280 West:
Take first right after Grandview Parkway onto Colonnade Drive (before I-459). At the “T” go right on Blue Lake Drive, approximately 0.8 miles. At the “Y” go right on Sicard Hollow Road. Entrance to Cahaba Pumping Station is on the left.