This Italianate-style cottage is located beside the historic Sturdivant Hall in Selma, AL. It was built in 1859 for Mr. and Mrs. Clement Billingslea White. Mrs. White was the former Martha Todd of Lexington, Kentucky, and a half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln. Mr. White was not a military person so the couple was able to visit Washington D.C. during the War Between the States. They were given escorts through the Federal lines and were able to smuggle medical supplies back to the South. This house was also the home of Miss M.M. Force, Selma’s first postmistress. Today, the White-Force Cottage is part of the Sturdivant Hall Museum and is available for special events. The house is a contributing property to Selma’s Old Town Historic District that’s on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
The White-Force Cottage is located at 811 Mabry Street in Selma, AL (GPS coordinates 32.413870, -87.029040).
Source: Selma’s Architecture and History Tour ( A Self-Guided Driving Tour)
Photographs courtesy of RuralSWAlabama.