Royal Oaks, Coden, Mobile County

Royal Oaks

Coden, Mobile County

The Alexander family constructed Royal Oaks around 1896. Jacintha Alexander operated a boarding house here for several years until she and her siblings tragically died in a 1906 hurricane. The family sold the property soon after. The home changed hands several times over the years until 1986 when Col. Roosevelt J. and Carolyn S. Lewis purchased the house. During the years the family has owned the property, the home has withstood several hurricanes. The home has served as a popular backdrop for pictures for various occasions such as high school senior class photographs, prom, homecoming, dance recitals, weddings, and Azalea Trail photos. Royal Oaks is significant for its role in the social history of Coden, Alabama, as well a good example of the Greek Revival architectural style.

Camp Hill Historic District

Camp Hill, Tallapoosa County

The Camp Hill Historic District was listed in the Alabama Register for its significance as the town’s historic commercial and economic center. The buildings included in the Camp Hill Historic District are good examples of Romanesque and Colonial Revival architectural types. The town of Camp Hill, Alabama, was incorporated in 1895, but settlement in the area began in the early 1800s. The historic commercial buildings in Camp Hill’s historic business district were developed between 1880 and 1965. The downtown district also includes the Norfolk Southern Railway system (previously known as the Central of Georgia Railway), which was responsible for transporting goods throughout numerous adjoining states in the South. 

New Providence Primitive Baptist Church

Kinston, Coffee County

Constructed in 1905, New Providence Primitive Baptist Church is an excellent example of vernacular architecture and the design is indicative of the basic floor plan used by many Primitive Baptist Churches in Alabama. The exterior of the church was constructed to look like the Texas Alamo. The church was built using local labor in a simplistic design with no window treatments, no distinct doors or entry points, sitting low to the ground with no piers. The interior retains its historic pews and pulpit but is just as sparse and quaint as when it was constructed. The church is currently being restored and will continue to host Sacred Harp singings. 

Shady Dell

Tuscumbia, Colbert County

Dr. A.W. Davis, the first African American physician and surgeon in Tuscumbia, constructed Shady Dell in 1920. Dr. Davis provided medical care to the African American population from 1914-1942. The home is located across from where his former office stood. After Dr. Davis and his wife died, their daughter, Sadie Mae Davis, inherited the home. Although Sadie and her husband Jason lived in Savannah, Georgia, they visited the home often during the summers and holidays. After their deaths, the home passed down to their daughter, Edythe Jason, who eventually sold it to Barbara and Glen Stewart. In 1958, Barbara Stewart moved to Tuscumbia to begin her teaching career at Trenholm High School. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart’s three children, Carolyn, Wayne and Danita, now own the property and are presently renovating the home.

Mulberry School House

Mulberry, Crenshaw County

Constructed in 1920, the Mulberry School House is an example of a rural school that provided a quality education to African American children. The Mulberry community donated lumber and tin to build the school and it is still owned by the Mulberry Community. Like many African American communities in the South the Jim Crowe era of segregation restricted African Americans' access to railroad cars, hotels, theaters, and public buildings. African American children suffered by having to attend separate schools with inferior materials and equipment. The community joined together to build a place to educate and instruct their children. Many of these schools have been lost. The community hopes to restore the schoolhouse so that it can be used as a community space.

Superintendent’s House

Irondale, Jefferson County

Constructed in 1915, this property served as the Superintendent’s Home of the Alabama Fuel & Iron Company in Irondale, Alabama. The house was used as a residence except during the "Troubles" with unionization in the 1930s. Management and miners alike were affected when in 1933 the United Mine Workers made a bid to organize the coal miners of Alabama. During this time, the house became company headquarters for meetings between management and workers and was the site of negotiations between the company and the workers who sued the United Mine Workers Union to remain in their dwellings. The Superintendent’s House is significant in its role in the development of industry, community planning, and social history during the first half of the 20th century in Alabama.

Jesseton Post Office

Danville, Lawrence County

Joel T. and Letha G. Sandlin purchased this property in 2020. Mr. Sandlin discovered this c. 1830 dogtrot log cabin when he began to remove overgrown vegetation on the property. After contacting the Lawrence County Archives, they discovered the dogtrot cabin was once used as the local Post Office in Jesseton, a community named after Jesse Hill, the first Postmaster. The skilled men who built this cabin dovetailed the corners and scalped the logs. The original chinking between the logs was made of clay and a mixture of feathers, horsehair, and twigs. Like most homes constructed during this period, this log cabin is a single-room home with a single fireplace. The dogtrot design of the home kept it warm in the winter and cross ventilation between the doors helped cool it in summer. The Jesseton Post Office was listed to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage for its association with social history and architecture. 

Winfield High School Gymnasium

Winfield, Marion County

The Winfield High School Gymnasium was constructed in 1941 as a part of the old Winfield High School (now Winfield Middle School). Additions were made in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1986 to add athletic rooms, a furnace, and a band room. The gym functioned as a community center and was the site of numerous school dances and sporting events. The community hopes to rehabilitate the building for use as a community gym and meeting place. 

Blackwell House

Semmes, Mobile County

Built by the Blackwell family in 1951, this home sits on four acres of shaded grounds and symbolizes the significance of Semmes as an agricultural and horticultural center. Owen and Vivien Blackwell founded Blackwell Nurseries, Inc. in 1938 and produced a line of plant material typical of the Semmes area including camellias and magnolias. In the 1960s due to several freezes and changes in the market, Owen Blackwell introduced innovative ideas that revolutionized the industry. Blackwell Nurseries became well known as the largest azalea producer in the nation by the late 1960s and helped earn the reputation of Semmes as "The Nursery Capital of the World." Blackwell Nurseries propagated and produced 3 million azaleas for the greenhouse and nursery trade by the mid-1990s. Blackwell Nurseries phased out its nursery operation in 2003 after 65 years in operation. Members of the Blackwell family lived in the home until 2007. The historic home currently operates as the Semmes Senior Center. 

Bassett Homestead

Roanoke, Randolph County 

The Bassett Homestead was listed to the Alabama Register for its agricultural and architectural significance. Charlie and Leona Bassett constructed the home in 1914 after Leona received 40 acres from her father upon her marriage to Charlie. The property originally contained 120 acres, but a portion of the land was sold in 1998. Charlie and Leona had 10 children, seven of whom were born in the house. The Bassett family continues to own the property and they use it as a gathering place for family events and reunions.

Brock’s Gap

Jefferson/Shelby Counties

Brock’s Gap is a railroad pass that was completed in 1871 through Shades Mountain in Hoover, Alabama. Brock’s Gap was used by the L & N Railroad and was the final link in connecting Montgomery to Birmingham. Attempts to bring the railroad up from the Cahaba River and across Shades Mountain began in the 1850s but the difficult terrain made it nearly impossible to complete. The completion of Brock’s Gap led to the founding of Birmingham and subsequently led to Birmingham becoming the center of the Alabama mineral region and the South’s largest industrial center. Brock’s Gap extracted a heavy toll both in terms of funds and human lives before the railbed was successfully completed using enslaved labor before the Civil War ended and the convict lease system afterwards. Brock’s Gap was listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage for its association with transportation, industry, method of construction, and archaeology. 

Brock's Gap, Jefferson/Shelby Counties