This Greek Revival-style home was built circa 1859 by Dr. Clifford Daniel Parke, a prominent Selma Physician who served as president of the Alabama Medical Association from 1882-1883 and was a member of the city council. The house has a two-story pedimented portico with four fluted Doric Columns and a balcony above the entrance. During the early 1900s, Victorian and Edwardian elements were added to its interior. It had a separate brick kitchen which was expanded into a 900 square foot outbuilding in the 1980s. A New Orleans-style brick courtyard was also added during renovations in the 1980s. A seven car garage, built with antique bricks, was added in 2008 and a modern chef’s kitchen was completed in 2012. The house is furnished with period antiques.

In 1939, the Parke House was photographed by the pioneering female photographer, Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952), as part of her documentation of early American buildings called the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South. The house is a contributing property to Selma’s Old Town Historic District that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The Parke House is located at 623 Selma Avenue in Selma (GPS coordinates 32.407167,-87.025433).

This is a private residence – drive by only.

Sources: 1) NRHP “Old Town Historic District” Registration Form; 2) selmapilgrimage.com.

Date of photographs: Dec 20, 2013.