Alabama Home Trivia Question

I had a really productive day in the archives today -- so productive that I was able to get out a little early.   On the way home I passed a sign for a place that had been on my agenda for many years, so I thought I'd make a quick detour.  This place -- a more or less ghost town now -- has a few buildings still standing, including the house in this photograph.  I was, to be honest, completely astonished by who lived here.  And so this is my question: who lived in this house and where is it?  Don't be fooled -- as I sort of was -- by the columns and front porch.  They're post-Civil War additions.  But even if you strip those off, it's still a grand house and -- again I say -- I was really astonished to learn who lived here.  I've never seen anything like this before. Here's a close-up of the home.  Good luck.

Comments

[Jason Mazzone]

It is the "Barker Slave Quarters," the slave housing for the former Kirkpatrick mansion in Old Cahawba.

Remarkable!

[Al Brophy]

You are, as always, correct, Jason. Its a remarkable building. I've seen a fair number of slave quarters, but never one that looks this's guess I'd say impressive. I have no idea how many people lived there, which will tell a lot about and I suppose the size has something to do, too,with the owner making a statement about his wealth. I've seen very few slave quarters that are made of brick and a few that are two stories high, but none this large. As I say, the porch and columns were added after the war (I think in the early twentieth century), but the building is still large.

The trip to Cawhaba was well worth it. I wish I'd gone years ago. There're three cemeteries and a couple of buildings. It was quite a large town (and for a while the capital of Alabama, and the county seat of Dallas County). I wish more of the building survived and I guess it surprises and saddens me that more did not survive. But walking around gives a really good sense of the size of the town.