Photo courtesy of Jim Langley.
Employers Insurance Co. was the first business in the development known as Hoover when it opened in this 20,000-square-foot building in 1958, prior to the incorporation of the city of Hoover.
The top photo shows the Employers Insurance Co. building that was built in the Green Valley area in the 1950s, after William Hoover Sr. began buying land along U.S. 31 south of Vestavia Hills in conjunction with the widening of the highway between Shades Crest Road and the Cahaba River.
It was the first business in the development known as Hoover, according to “A History of Hoover, Alabama and its People,” published by the Hoover Historical Society. Employers Insurance Co., owned by William Hoover, relocated to the 20,000-square-foot building from Birmingham in 1958. Some employees left the company rather than have to commute that far south of Birmingham, according to the book.
Photo by Jon Anderson.
The same building today holds the Jefferson County Department of Revenue satellite Office, Axe House Billiards and Steel City Emergency Vets.
The Hoover Court shopping center opened right next to Employers Insurance Co. in 1961. Employers Insurance Co. moved to Riverchase in 1986. Today, the former Employers Insurance building holds the Jefferson County Department of Revenue satellite office, Axe House Billiards and the Steel City Emergency Vet clinic.
