Hi Raymond, I came upon this address quite by luck. I was passed around a lot but I beleive the number is (205)933-9110. The clerk took my address and mailed me a form to fill out. The address is Jefferson County Department of Health Bureau of Health Statistics and Vital records 1400 Sixth Avenue South PO Box 2648 Birmingham, AL 35202-2648 The cost is $12 per search/certificate and $4 for additional copies - money order or cashiers check only. Also only the next of kin can request a certificate. That means my dad actually had to sign for my grandfather's birth certificate or he could have written a letter giving me authority. I'm not sure how flexible this rule is but in my case I didn't need to worry about it. I hope that by writing directly to the county they will search pre-1908 records. There was no mention on the form of a search limit. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. Ciao, Chris "Hi Chris, I am also looking for a birth certificate for my grandfather who was born in Birmingham in 1892. I spent two days in August of this year in Birmingham & Montgomery searching through their archives. Unfortunately, I was not able to find anything on my grandfather. Interestingly enough, no one else has mentioned the Jefferson County Dept of Health. It sounds like a new lead for me and perhaps others. Chris, could you provide their address and phone number. Thanks in advance. Raymond Simmons "My grandfather was born in 1896 in Birmingham and I need to get a certified copy of his birth certificate. I know the regular channels only supply births from 1906 on, but I saw on AlGenWeb that Jefferson County had births back to 1882. I called around and got the Jefferson County Department of Health, Bureau of Health Statistics and Vital Records and I was sent a form (I live in New Orleans)." "