By Lee Davis
The time was the mid-1960s. Lyndon B. Johnson was president of the United States, and the country was starting its final drive to put human footprints on the moon.
About that same time, a Birmingham developer with a vision was putting his own footprints in a community by purchasing a dairy farm.
The developer was Robert Morgan and the farm, called The Bearden Dairy Farm, would one day become Rocky Ridge.
“My father was a homebuilder who developed property all around Birmingham when I was growing up,” said Robert “Robin” Morgan Jr., who has followed his father’s path as owner of Southmont Development/Morgan Properties. “Contingent on the sale of the farm was changing the zoning for part of the property that touched Rocky Ridge Road to be commercial and the part of the property across Little Shades Creek to be zoned for multi-family/apartments.”
Fifty years later, the landscape is very different. In recognition of the influence the company has had on the community during that time,
Southmont/Morgan recently was honored as the 2016 Service Business of the Year by the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce.
But the beginning of the elder Morgan’s vision was modest. He sold a small portion of the property to Standard Oil for a service station. A bigger break came later, when he persuaded Western Supermarket to open a store in the area. Soon a drug store followed, and Rocky Ridge was on its way.
Another major opportunity came later in the decade with the construction of Vestavia Hills High School.
“Jefferson County approached my father about giving the land for a road to allow access from Rocky Ridge Road to the new high school,” the younger Morgan recalled. “He agreed but this potential street would have to extend through a part of the neighboring farm known as ‘The Jones Farm.’ The owners wouldn’t contribute their land to Jefferson County for the street. My father knew that this street would be valuable for future development and traded the Jones’ two-plus acres of his land to exactly compensate for the land they lost.”
The street was built, connecting Rocky Ridge Road to Limerock Road, where the high school was to be constructed. The new route was christened Morgan Road, named for the original developer.
Rocky Ridge’s latest evolution came a few years ago when, after approval from the Alabama Legislature, the area became a designated Entertainment District with art galleries, restaurants, musical venues and other forms of night life.
“We always thought that Rocky Ridge would be a good candidate to have a variety of eating and drinking places,” Morgan said. “It’s kind of an isolated place, in a way, and being an entertainment district brings people in. It’s like a Five Points South or Uptown. People are comfortable walking from place to place looking for entertainment and music.”
Popular restaurants such as Café Iz and Johnny Brusco’s Pizza are also natural draws, Morgan said.
While some might focus on more glamorous aspects, sidewalks are an important key to any entertainment district, according to Morgan.
“You need sidewalk connectivity,” he said. “People need to feel comfortable walking from place to place. We need more sidewalks in Rocky Ridge.”
Morgan credits Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downs with much of the inspiration for the success of the Rocky Ridge Entertainment District.
“Jeff had worked as a land planner in Montgomery and had experience with entertainment districts,” he said. “He understood how to make the political side work as well.”
Morgan has been a strong voice in the Rocky Ridge/Vestavia Hills community. He served as president of Leadership Vestavia in 2005-2006 and was heavily involved in the efforts to annex Cahaba Heights into Vestavia.
“It’s a rewarding thing to be part of the fabric of a community like Vestavia and see something that we’ve worked on become a big success,” Morgan said.
Morgan’s interest in development of property goes beyond the Rocky Ridge area. He is developing 18 acres near Vestavia Country Club for residential use. “I hope to spend more time doing residential developments,” he said.
And while Morgan isn’t consider- ing retirement, he has turned over much of the work to his son Rob. “He’s put a lot of energy into the Entertainment District,” Morgan said.
Over nearly six decades, Bearden Dairy Farm has morphed from a rural setting to a residential/commercial community and now has the added dimension of an Entertainment District. The collective vision of three generations of Morgans has been a big part of it.
