Originally an I-house, this structure served as a school for Miss Adeline Morse, a New England schoolteacher. Judge W.C. Christian purchased the structure in 1912 and made extensive renovations, resulting in the present Greek Revival appearance.
In 1836, a young New England schoolteacher, Miss Adeline Morse, moved to Greensboro. Shortly after arriving, she purchased a lot on Main Street and had a house built on it. Originally, the house was one room deep on each side of the central hall and two stories high. Miss Morse taught several generations of Greensboro children in her home from the time she arrived until her death forty years later.
Several rooms have been added to the Morse house through the years. Judge W.C. Christian purchased the house in 1912 and made major renovations to it, which include the addition of the large square columns and porches on the front of the house.
This house is best known by recent generations, however, as the home of Judge W. C. Christian’s grandson William Christian. William Christian, commonly referred to as “Mayor Christian,” lived in this house from his childhood until his death in 1986. He served as the mayor of Greensboro for 32 years.
This house is a contributing property to the Greensboro Historic District that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It is located at 1602 Main Street in Greenboro (GPS coordinates 32.704355, -87.597687).
This is a private residence – drive by only.
Sources: 1) NRHP “Greensboro Historic District” Nomination Form, 2) Hale County Alabama, An Inventory of Significant and Historic Resources, by the Cahaba Trace Commission, 3) Historic Hale County, published by The Presentation Committee of the Alabama Reunion 1989.
Photograph courtesy of RuralSWAlabama.
Note: This house (listed as the Morse-Christian-Meredith House) is site #28 site on the Greensboro Historic Walking Tour brochure. Brochures are available at a tourism kiosk that’s located on the SE corner of Main and Beacon Streets at downtown Greensboro.