Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 28789, Midfield, AL 35228
205-923-1027
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF B.Y.WILLIAMS SR.
Williams Hardware and Sundries was opened in the small community of Midfield Park, Alabama on Oct. 1, 1952 by B.Y. Williams Sr.. Williams planned to grow with this young community, and believed in giving back.
When the City became incorporated the next year, Williams offered the back of his store for the City’s first offices. When the City finally got its own building on the corner of Woodward Rd. and Midfield St., it was Williams who sold the building to the City at well below market value.
By 1961, Williams Hardware had moved to a new and larger building. Midfield’s first post office was located in the back of that store with a postal clerk and four mail carriers.
Midfield’s first Chamber of Commerce was organized by B.Y.Williams Sr. and Bill Harris of “Bill’s Florist”. B.Y. Served the Chamber as its president for the first two years.
The annexation of the Wilkes community in 1963 would have been an impossible task without the efforts of the new Chamber of Commerce under the direction of B.Y.Williams. Williams also worked hard in the Chamber to generate support for the annexation of Fairfield Highlands in 1965.
As the City grew, so did its postal needs. As Midfield’s Post Master, it soon became apparent to B.Y. that the City needed its own post office building, so he started contacting postal authorities to press them for this need. After being refused by a top postal official in Memphis Tennessee, B.Y. decided to go over their heads and started calling politicians. It worked. Soon after Williams placed a call to his congressman, Midfield had its own full service post office in the Weible Square Shopping Center.
This tactic paid off again when B.Y. heard that the Midfield Post Office was about to be closed up and moved to a location in West Birmingham, outside the Midfield City Limits. Declaring, “We fought to get it and we’ll fight to keep it”, calls were made, arguments were given, and thanks in no small part to the efforts of B.Y.Williams Sr., Midfield kept its post office that is now located on Wilkes Rd. in the beautiful new building that you see today.
Other businesses that B.Y. helped to bring into Midfield through his continuing service on the Industrial Development Board are Southeastern Meats, South Pac, Exxon, Krispy Kreme and Prime Time.
While serving as president of the Library Board in 1984, a position he held from the creation of the board during the Breland Administration until 2007, Williams worked to secure the grant that made the library building on Breland Dr. possible.
In addition to his service on the Industrial Development Board and the Library Board, Williams is also president of the Planning and Zoning board, and on the board of directors of the Midfield Area Chamber of Commerce, which he helped to re-organize twelve years ago.
B.Y. is also on the Board of Trustees of the Walnut Grove Cemetery. He is on the Birmingham West Board of Trustees of the United Methodist Church, and is chairman of the Administrative Council of the Bethlehem United Methodist Church.
Other offices he has held, and honors he has received for services outside of Midfield are numerous.
In 1998 the Midfield City Council changed the name of Midfield Street to “B.Y.Williams Sr. Dr.” in his honor, and on April 7, 2006 The Midfield Chamber of Commerce presented Mr. Williams with the “Humanitarian Award”.
