It is a 6 acres (2.4 ha) district which included 12 contributing buildings and four non-contributing buildings in an area around the junction of 1st Avenue North and 55th Place in Birmingham, at the center of the community of Woodlawn, Alabama, which for a time was a separate city before being absorbed into Birmingham.

The Woodlawn Commercial Historic District is roughly L-shaped along 1st Avenue North, running northeast to southwest, and along perpendicular 55th Place.

Stone and terra cotta is used throughout the district as decorative elements (inventory #2, 3, 9, 10, 12, 13, 18).

Because of the urban location of the district, all of the buildings are situated close to the street and are either attached to one another or are separated only by an alley.

"[2] It includes Beaux Arts, Gothic Revival, and Commercial Style architecture.