Birmingham, Ala. (March 3, 2016) – Crawford McWilliams Hatcher Architects was incorporated on October 20, 1980. It was the year of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, The Shining, Nine to Five, Raging Bull, Airplane and The Blues Brothers. Our collective soundtrack consisted of Blondie, David Bowie, The Cars, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Alice Cooper, Elvis Costello and The Police.
The inflation rate was a whopping 13.6% and the Dow was at 963. The average new car cost was $7,200 with gas at $1.19 per gallon ($3.42 per gallon in today’s dollars), the Federal debt was $909.1 Billion, Reagan was elected president in November and Post-It notes debuted.
MTV was on the verge of existing, Charles and Diana were on the verge of marrying, Brittany Spears was on the verge of being born and Sandra Day O’Connor was on the verge of becoming the first female Supreme Court Justice.
Our architecture firm started with three — Brandon Crawford, Jerry McWilliams, Everett Hatcher — and a part-time secretary. We made our drafting boards out of recycled doors and the most high-tech item we had was an IBM typewriter.
During the 80s we grew quickly. For a blast from the past, check out the hairspray, oversized glasses and initial projects that kickstarted our firm here. Congratulations to the CMH family! Here’s to our first decade!