RuralSWAlabama

Akron Boys & Girls Club Complex at Akron, AL (designed & built by Rural Studio students)

Most of Akron’s adults commute to Tuscaloosa or Greensboro for work which leaves the children to entertain and look after themselves for an extended period of time every day. Auburn University’s Rural Studio volunteered to design and build a Boys and G …

Akron Presbyterian Church at Akron, AL (completed 1922)

The Akron Presbyterian Church was organized on July 6, 1919. The meeting was at the Akron Methodist Church which is where the Presbyterians met until their first church as built. In 1920, the Presbyterians started a building fund for their church. Thei …

Auburn Rural Studio at Newbern, AL

Established in 1993 by architects Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee and D. K. Ruth, the Rural Studio is a part of Auburn University’s School of Architecture.  The Rural Studio is located in rural west Alabama in the small town of Newbern in Hale County.  Rural St …

Battersea at Gallion, AL (built ca. 1820; listed on the NRHP)

This is a historic plantation house located in south Hale County at Gallion. It was built around 1820 as a two-by-two log cabin.  By the 1840s, two additional rooms were constructed at the back of the cabin.  Battersea underwent further expansions, suc …

Cade-Hillier House at Greensboro, AL (built 1900; listed om the NRHP)

This beautiful two-story, home was built circa 1900. Features of the house include a complex roof line, corner tower with conical roof, central double leaf entrance, a wraparound porch with Eastlake trim, a conical roof projection and an upper level ga …

Drake Northrup House at Greensboro, AL (ca. 1850)

Dr. Gaston Drake, a planter and local physician, purchased this property in 1849 and had a house built on it.  The house was destroyed by fire before the Drake family could move into it.  There was speculation that arson was probably the cause for the …

Duggar-Osborn House at Greensboro, AL (built ca. 1890, listed on the NRHP).

This is a charming one-story Victorian cottage with Eastlake details that’s located on Greensboro’s Main Street. This house was built around 1890. Features of the house include articulated gable bays, a partial width porch with a turrett, a single leaf …

Emory School at Cedarville, AL in Hale County (ca. 1915; a historic Rosenwald School)

Emory School, also known as the Tunstall School, is a historic Rosenwald School building located in rural Hale County, AL about midway between Greensboro and Gallion. It was built ca. 1915 under the Julius Rosenwald School Building Fund program to serv …

Gayle-Tunstall House at Greensboro, AL (built 1828-1829, listed on the NRHP)

There may be no home in the Black Belt with more history attached to it than this one. It was built in 1828 – 1829 by John Gayle, a South Carolina native. Prior to moving to Greensboro, Gayle lived in Monroeville, Al where he served in the territorial …

Greensboro Hotel Building at Greensboro, AL (built early 1830s, listed on the NRHP)

Once an elegant downtown hotel, the Greensboro Hotel remains a local landmark. Impressive brickwork is its most significant feature. Brick-arched doors and windows stand out prominently. The hotel began as a two-story building with “Flemish bond” brick …

Greensboro Opera House at Greensboro, AL (built ca. 1903, listed on the NRHP)

The Greensboro Opera House was built in 1903 on the site of an earlier opera house. The original, built in the 1890′s, had burned the preceding year. Although it was grand in design for a small town like Greensboro, the Greensboro Opera House was typic …

Greensboro Presbyterian Church at Greensboro, AL (built 1859; listed on the NRHP)

Presbyterians were among the earliest settlers of Greensboro, AL. In 1823, the first Presbyterian church was organized in Greensboro by Rev. James Hillhouse of South Carolina with Patrick Norris and William Hillhouse, veterans of the American Revolutio …