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

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

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 ...

located near Faunsdale, Marengo County,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, 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 is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

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 Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

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 &nd ...

, 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