Cedar Grove Plantation, also known as the Charles Walker House, is a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

located near Faunsdale,

Marengo County Marengo County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,323. The largest city is Demopolis, and the county seat is Linden. It is named in honor of the Battle of ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

. It is notable in having been the residence of

Nicola Marschall Nicola Marschall (March 16, 1829 – February 24, 1917) was a German-American artist who supported the Confederate States of America, Confederate cause during the American Civil War. He designed the original Confederate flag, the Flags of t ...

for a brief period while the Walker family owned the property. The house was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

on 13 July 1993 as a part of the Plantation Houses of the Alabama Canebrake and Their Associated Outbuildings Multiple Property Submission.

History

The house had its beginnings in 1830 with the construction of a two-story log house by Dougal and Malcolm McAlpin, two brothers from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. In 1848 Charles and Margaret Walker purchased the property and hired a builder from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

, Theophilus Fowler, to begin construction of the main house. The house served as the center of the large plantation, Charles Walker owned 154

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

s in 1860. The former log house is believed to have been incorporated into the main house to become the dining room and a bedroom. The house remained under construction until 1858. Nicola Marschall was a friend of the Walker family and lived with them briefly at their home. The two-story schoolhouse behind the main house is believed to have been used by him as a studio during his time there. This schoolhouse served as a school for children in the area until 1925. The house remained in the Walker family until 1982.

Description

The house is a two-story frame structure with a gabled roof and double veranda. It is built in a

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

style. The original porch was altered in 1915 from a one-story design with simple turned wooden

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s, spanned by arched

latticework __NOTOC__ Latticework is an openwork framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a grid or weave. Latticework may be functional &n ...

, to the multi-level configuration with paneled box columns seen today.

Gallery

Image:Cedar Grove Marengo Alabama.jpg, Front and side elevation in 1936 Image:Cedar Grove Marengo Alabama 3.jpg, South elevation, side view of house in 1936 Image:Cedar Grove Marengo Alabama 5.jpg, Living room mantel in 1936 Image:Cedar Grove Marengo Alabama 7.jpg, First floor parlor in 1936

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Alabama National Register of Historic Places in Marengo County, Alabama Historic districts in Marengo County, Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Greek Revival houses in Alabama Plantation houses in Alabama Houses in Marengo County, Alabama Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama