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Downtown Birmingham extends north from the railroad tracks at Morris Avenue to Tenth Avenue N, bounded to the east and west by 25th and 15th streets. The landscaped greenery of 20th Street , overlooked by a collection of early skyscrapers, is not enough to save these one-hundred-plus blocks from anonymity, with shopping now firmly anchored in the malls and suburbs. If you're just passing through, you'd do better to head straight for the much livelier Five Points South district, a mile or so south of the tracks on 20th Street; thanks to the proximity of the university, its narrow streets and alleys are packed with bars and restaurants, and throng with revelers - mostly students - every weekend.

The concrete colossus of the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center, at 22nd Street and Tenth Avenue N, contains the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; $5), a tribute to sporting greats such as 1936 Olympic hero Jesse Owens, Le Roy "Satchel" Paige - legendary Negro League pitcher - and boxer Joe Louis . There's even a space for George Wallace, on the excuse that he was state amateur boxing champion. Weave your way past the monotonous white-walled legal buildings to the nearby Museum of Art , 2000 Eighth Ave N, which is strong on Oriental art, American landscapes and, oddly enough, Wedgwood pottery (Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm; free).

A few blocks from the edge of downtown, at First Avenue N and 32nd Street, stand the massive sheds and tall chimney stacks of Sloss Furnaces , which produced pig iron to feed the city's mills and foundries from 1882 until 1971. Self-guided tours through the boilers, stoves and casting areas vividly portray the harsh working conditions endured by the ex-slaves, prisoners and unskilled immigrants. Imagining the searing heat, cramped space, the heavy loads and the putrid gaseous emissions, it's easy to appreciate why one former Sloss worker claimed "if mules had to do this work they would have banned it" (Tues-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun noon-4pm; free; guided tours Sat & Sun 1pm, 2pm & 3pm).