Leeds, AL

Leeds is an eastern Birmingham suburb and a tricounty municipality, reaching into Jefferson, St. Clair, and Shelby counties. Founded in 1877 during Reconstruction, it sits near the Little Cahaba River and has its own city school district. Leeds has a stronger local identity than its size suggests, with Birmingham access, older rail-and-mining-era history, and nearby Barber Motorsports Park helping distinguish it from the run of small metro-edge towns.