In 1890, an American journalist named Julian Ralph traveled from New York to
Birmingham, an industrial powerhouse lying squarely in the center of England, and
found it to be “the best-governed city in the world.”
Over 12 breathless pages in Harper’s Magazine, Ralph praised the city council for
providing its citizens with free museums, art galleries and libraries; with swimming
pools and Turkish baths; for keeping its streets “uncommonly clean;” for managing
its own water supply; and for using gas lamps — invented in the city some decades
before — to keep its streets brightly lit.
