This Gothic style church was built in 1879 by Gainesvilles’ leading late 19th-century builder, Edward N. Kring.  In accordance with tradition, the building is oriented from west to east with the altar located at the east end. The main entrance to the church is through a small, bell-tower at the northwest corner. The church still has original pews, oil lamps and leaded stained glass.  The stained glass includes a diamond-shaped window at the west end, representing the Eye of God, and a rose window above the altar composed of the symbol of the Trinity.

This church is located beside Highway 39 at the intersection of Highway 30 and E. Spruce Street in Gainesville, AL (GPS coordinates N32.816000,W88.159528).

Source:  Gainesville, Alabama Tour Guide

4/30/12

The Wesley Plattenburg House is a historic house in Selma, AL. Featuring a unique combination of the Greek Revival and Italianate styles, it was completed in 1842 for Wesley Plattenburg.  Plattenburg was born on April 13, 1803 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He had relocated to Selma and had assumed the occupation of tailor by 1829. Plattenburg became a successful merchant and served on the city council of Selma for many years.

This house was once at the center of a 2,200-acre plantation that Plattenburg inherited from a close friend, Mr. Wood, upon his death. Plattenburg took up the vocation of planter after receiving the property. The house is one of only a few structures remaining in the city that is identifiable on a map of the Battle of Selma. The city eventually grew to completely encompass the site. The house was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on March 22, 1991 and to the National Register of Historic Places on February 3, 1993. It was listed on Alabama’s Places in Peril in 2005.

This building is located at the intersection of Washington Street and Furniss Avenue at Selma, AL (GPS coordinates N32.413878,W87.022517).

Source:  Wikipedia

B&W photograph courtesy U. S. Library of Congress, photographer: W. N. Manning, photograph date: March 18, 1934.

4/30/12

The Camellias is a beautiful antebellum home located just south of Marion, AL.  It gets its name from the many camellia bushes located on the front lawn.  The house was built in the early 1830s by Joseph Crenshaw as a gift for his daughter, Mary Crenshaw Reese, wife of Carlos Reese.  Joseph Crenshaw was owner and operator of a large plantation located south of Marion.

This house has a classic two-story Greek Revival style construction with exterior end chimneys.  The front of the house has full height square columns and a pedimented portico with balcony.  The entrance has full transom and side lights around double doors that open into the front hall.  The hallway has a plaster centerpiece that decorates the ceiling and a staircase that leads to the second floor.

Located behind this home is a log dogtrot cabin which probably predates the main house.

The Camellias is located beside CR 45 approximately 3.5 miles south of downtown Marion, AL (GPS coordinates N32.586091,W87.307979).

This is a private residence – drive by only.

Source: Perry County Heritage, Volume II

4/30/12

On the night of March 21, 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sought refuge from the Ku Klux Klan inside a small, shotgun-style home in the depot neighborhood of Greensboro, AL. (This occurred just two weeks prior to the assassination of Rev. King in Memphis, TN.) Mrs. Theresa Burroughs, a close friend of the King family and an active participant of the Civil Rights Movement, turned this small shotgun house into the Safe House Black History Museum which documents the local struggle for equality.  It contains relics of the period from slavery through the civil rights movement.  Displayed at the museum are many unpublished photos of the civil rights struggle in the Black Belt. These include photos of the Greensboro marches, of Bloody Sunday in Selma, and of the triumphant march from Selma to Montgomery.

Mrs. Burroughs sought Auburn Rural Studio’s assistance with renovating the museum.  Rural Studio agreed to help and three Rural Studio students began work on this project in the fall of 2009.  The project involved renovation of the museum building and a nearly identical small shotgun building located beside the museum that was used for storage.  As with all Rural Studio projects, the students not only designed the project, but they performed all of the work that was involved with completing the job.  The students’ goal with the renovation was to preserve the two old shotgun houses and make changes that would improve the museum.  The exterior walls of the buildings were restored to their natural pine finish, reflecting the time period when Martin Luther King Jr. sought refuge.  The front porch of the museum building, which had been enclosed, was restored to its original condition because porches were such an essential part of shotgun houses.  A simple glass hallway was added between the two buildings.  One glass wall of the hallway was covered with the images of protest marchers.  The house which was being used for storage is now used for classes, a computer lab and an art gallery.  The Rural Studio students re-used everything that they could salvage.  Even the old sidewalks were dug up, crushed and used as the base for the museum courtyard.

Pictures included show the museum before and after the renovation by Rural Studio.  Thanks are extended to Mackenzie Stagg with Auburn Rural Studio for providing pictures of the inside of the museum after completion of the renovation.

The Safe House Museum is located in the southwestern side of Greensboro, AL at the intersection of Davis Street and Martin Luther King Avenue (Site GPS Coordinates N32.697611,W87.609667).

Sources: 1) Alabama Black Belt Nature And Heritage Trail; 2) The Tuscaloosa News; 3) Rural Studio

4/25/12

This Vernacular “I” style home, built about 1865, was the home of Edward N. Kring who was Gainesville’s leading late 19th-century builder.  He built both the Methodist Church and St. Alban’s Episcopal Church as well as several homes and businesses. It appears that he built a large portion of the businesses downtown based on old pictures. Mr. Kring also owned and operated the Coffin Shop at Gainesville.

The Kring Home is included in the Gainesville Historic District that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is located in Gainesville, AL at the intersection of Spruce Street and Church Street (GPS Coordinates:  N32.816111,W88.157667).

One of the pictures that are provided shows a door in the house that was made using only wood pegs – no nails.

Source: Sumter County, Alabama Historical Points of Interest Handbook

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is a historic Carpenter Gothic church, built in 1854 at Cahaba (also spelled Cahawba), the first capital of Alabama from 1820 to 1826. The builder closely followed plans published by architect Richard Upjohn in his 1852 book Rural Architecture.  Exterior features of the Gothic Revival structure include lancet windows, pointed arch doorways and vertical board and batten sheathing. The building originally had a square bell tower on the corner to the left of the current main front entrance, but this was not rebuilt when the church was relocated in 1878.

St. Luke’s was built during Cahaba’s antebellum boom years, on Vine Street near the intersection of Vine and 1st South Street. Following the post-war decline of Cahaba, the church was dismantled in 1878 and moved 11 miles to the community of Martin’s Station where it continued to serve an Episcopal congregation for several decades.  St. Luke’s was then used by an African-American Baptist congregation for over 60 years before being acquired by the Alabama Historical Commission. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 25, 1982.

During the academic years of 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, students from Auburn University’s Rural Studio carefully dismantled the church and reassembled it at Cahaba near the corner of Beech Street and Capitol Street, across from the Old Cahawba Archaeological Park visitor center.  The new Cahaba location was chosen because of the original location on Vine Street was in a floodplain. The majority of the original timbers was saved and used, including the 50′ heavy timber buttressed arches. Some of the original wood had rotted considerably over the years and students replaced it with oversight from the Alabama Historical Society and Cahawba Advisory Committee.

Pictures that are provided were taken between April 2010 and February 2012.  Work is nearing completion on the St. Luke’s church.

The Old Cahawba Archaeological Park is located southwest of Selma, AL near the Alabama River.  GPS coordinates of the church are N32.319444,W87.105111.

Source: Wikipedia

2/9/12

Tanglewood is a historic plantation house near Akron, Alabama. The Greek Revival cottage was built in 1859 by Page Harris, on land that he had purchased in 1824. It was given to the University of Alabama as a memorial to Nicholene Bishop in 1949 and the grounds are now used as a 480-acre nature reserve known as the J. Nicholene Bishop Biological Station.  It is used by the university to aid undergraduate and graduate research in biodiversity and environmental processes.  The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1973 due to its architectural significance.

Tanglewood is located in northwest Hale County approximately five miles east of Akron, AL (GPS coordinates N32.853111,W87.673023).

Source:  Wikipedia

2/9/12

This was the showroom for coffins of builder, Edward Kring. Here you would pick out your material and wood for your coffin which would then be custom built.  Mr. Kring was probably the busiest builder in Gainesville in the 1870′s, building both the Methodist and Episcopal Churches as well as several homes and businesses. It appears that he built a large portion of the businesses downtown based on old pictures. Mr. Kring had a large workshop at the rear of the Coffin Shop and also a large barn or warehouse to store materials.  Kring’s coffin shop is included in the Gainesville Historic District that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The coffin shop is located at downtown Gainestown, AL on the east side of Highway 39 approximately 0.2 miles south of the river bridge (GPS Coordinates:  N32.821556,W88.158333).

Source: Gainesville Tour Guide

2/9/12

This Historic Marker is located beside Hwy 10 on the west edge of Pine Apple, AL (GPS coordinates N31.874667,W86.995278).

Below is the inscription on the marker.

“Founded in 1825, the town of Pine Apple became a regional commercial center due to its strategic location as the end of the Selma to Pensacola Railroad line from 1871 to the 1890s. The progressive spirit of Pine Apple during the centennial period 1850 to 1950 is reflected in its historic commercial, residential, civic, educational, and religious architecture, namely the Bank of Pine Apple building, Pine Apple Water Tower and Waterworks building, Moore Academy, Matheson Community Library, Pine Apple Methodist Church and Friendship Baptist Church. Residential architecture ranges from 19th century cottages and early 20th century bungalows to more academic application of the Greek Revival, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival styles.

In contrast to the surrounding relics of a sleepy antebellum plantation south, the historic buildings of Pine Apple spark images of a bustling Deep South mercantile and educational center at the turn of the 20th century.

In all, the Pine Apple Historic District, entered into the National Register of Historic Places on February 26, 1999, includes 73 properties from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.

Erected 2005 by Alabama Historical Commission and by Pine Apple Promotions.”

2/9/12

Arthur Pendleton Bagby, who served two terms as Governor of Alabama (1837 and 1839) and later as a U. S. Senator, moved to Camden in 1853.  He contracted with Henry F. Cook to build a home “befitting a man of position”.  They agreed to a price of $3,750 to be paid in three installments.  Unfortunately, Bagby could not make the payments and the property was sold at public auction to Thomas King Beck to satisfy Mr. Cook’s lien.  (Beck was the nephew of Vice President William Rufus King.) This two-story house features square box columns, a hallmark of Cook, and has supporting timbers which are secured by mortised joints and wooden pegs.  The floors are 6-inch pine.

This house is located on Broad Street at Camden, AL (GPs coordinates N31.999556,W87.298417).

Source: Wilcox County Historical Society

B&W photographs courtesy U. S. Library of Congress.

Click here to access more historic sites at Camden, AL.

1/16/12

This home, known as “River Bluff House,” was built around 1847 for William King Beck, a nephew of William Rufus King, Vice-President of the United States. Beck migrated to Wilcox County around 1820 with his three brothers from North Carolina. He combined his law practice with cotton planting and achieved considerable local prominence. River Bluff House is a large Greek Revival Cottage with a recessed porch supported by octagonal columns. The columns and the “eared” architraves framing the interior window and door openings strongly link this building to Alexander Bragg as the builder. It is believed that J. D. Bryant, who owned the home in the late 1800′s, altered the roof to its present hipped roofline style.

This home was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 21, 1993.  It is located beside Highway 28 near the Canton Bend community in Wilcox County (GPs coordinates N32.045417,W87.335306).

Source: Wilcox County Historical Society

Click here to access additional historic sites in Wilcox County, Alabama.

1/16/12

Brooklyn Baptist Church, established in 1821, is one of the oldest churches in Conecuh County.  The church was organized in a small log cabin that also served as a school.  On September 4, 1860, the church purchased three acres of land for $15.00.  The present church was built in 1861.  There have been three building projects since this time.  In 1949, Sunday school rooms and a secretary’s office were added to the church.  In June 1959, additional Sunday school rooms were added.  In 1960, a new pastorium was completed.  The Brooklyn Baptist Church was added to the Alabama Register of Historic Landmarks and Heritage on March 24, 1983.

This church is located beside Conecuh Co. Rd. 6 on the west side of Brooklyn, AL (GPS coordinates N31.263944,W86.775611).

Source: The Heritage of Conecuh County Alabama published by Heritage Publishing Consultants, Inc.

1/16/12