The Harvey house, also referred to as Seven Pines, was built circa 1848 by Col J. G. Harvey, long-time editor of the Alabama Beacon. This house has a simple design, with a gable-roofed front porch and four square, Doric-detailed columns. There is a central hall, with rooms to the left and right. When built, the house had a fireplace in each room and this plan was followed as rooms were added later. A bricked-in basement was once used by the Harveys as a summer dining room. Two rooms were added to the house before the turn of the century, with two other rooms converted to bathrooms. In 1976 a large den and two smaller rooms were added to the house.

There has been a newspaper published in Greensboro from the earliest years (The Halcyon, possibly the earliest, existed in 1824), but during the mid- to late 19th century the most prestigious was The Alabama Beacon, edited by Col. John Gaillard Harvey. Col. Harvey, a native of North Carolina who graduated from West Point in 1831 in the same class as Jefferson Davis, moved to Greensboro with his wife Sarah around 1837. He was first a merchant and then briefly practiced law, but he found his true calling when he purchased The Beacon in 1843 and became its editor-publisher. He continued in that position until his death in 1890, and under his editorship the paper became one of the most respected in this part of the state.

The Harvey house is a contributing property to the Greensboro Historic District that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It is located at 2105 Main Street in Greensboro (GPS coordinates 32.703977, -87.605002).

This is a private residence – drive by only.

Sources: 1) Hale County Alabama, An Inventory of Significant and Historic Resources, by the Cahaba Trace Commission; 2) Historic Hale County, published by The Presentation Committee of the Alabama Reunion 1989; 3) NRHP “Greensboro Historic District” Nomination Form

Photographs courtesy of RuralSWAlabama.

NOTE: This house is featured site #36 on the Greensboro Historic Walking Tour. Tour brochures are available at a tourism kiosk that’s located on the southeast corner of Main and Beacon Streets at downtown Greensboro.