Brighton (Alabama)

Brighton is a city near Birmingham, Alabama, United States and located just east of Hueytown. At the 2010 census the population was 2,945. It is one of four cities in Jefferson County named after cities in Great Britain. Many of its early settlers were of English descent and named the town after the English tourist and resort city of Brighton which is located on the English Channel.GeographyBrighton is located at.According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.4sqmi, all land.HistoryBy 1901, at least 100 families were living in Brighton, which was along a dummy railroad line built in 1889 by the Bessemer & Birmingham Railroad Company to connect those two cities. The city really started in 1892, when developer G.B. Edwards subdivided a tract of land and sold lots. The Old Huntsville Road became Main Street and the city was incorporated in 1901. The town had a population of 1,502 by the 1910 Census, with seventeen commercial establishments including eight grocery stores.The city's fortunes have always been closely linked to those of Woodward Iron Company and when that industry moved out, the town rapidly declined. The graves of many early settlers of Scottish, English and German descent who came to work at Woodward can be found in Brighton Cemetery which still operates today.In 1908, coal miner William Miller, who was black, was accused of blowing up the home of a mine operator. Miller was killed before white men would later be convicted of the crime. A mob dragged Miller out of the Brighton jail and killed him not far from Brighton City Hall where his historical marker now stands.