Five free things to do within a walk of Carson Street
No tickets, no reservations. Five easy ways to spend an hour on the South Side without spending anything.
You do not need a plan or a budget to enjoy the South Side. Here are five things you can do for free, all within a walk of our door at 12th and East Carson.
1. Walk the riverfront trail
Head down 18th Street toward the river and you reach South Side Riverfront Park. It has a picnic area and a boat launch, and it sits on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, the walking and biking path that follows the Monongahela. Turn either way and keep going as long as you like.
2. Find the bull at Bedford Square
A block off Carson, at South 12th and Bingham Streets, is Bedford Square, part of the town plan drawn up in 1811. The Market House in the middle was built in 1915. Look for the bull on the wall, the old sign that this was a market.
3. Look up on East Carson Street
Most of us walk Carson Street looking at shop windows. Try looking at the second and third floors. The stretch between 10th and 27th Streets was the business district of old Birmingham, and much of it is a historic district known for its Victorian storefronts.
4. Visit the library
The South Side branch of the Carnegie Library is at 2205 East Carson Street, in a building from 1909. A library card is free. Check the opening hours before you go.
5. Go on a street-name hunt
The man who planned this neighborhood named streets after his relatives. See how many you can find: Jane, Sarah, Sidney, Mary and Bingham are all nearby. Carson is the odd one out. It was named after a sea captain.
If you get thirsty on the way back, you know where we are.