The Davidson–Smitherman House, also known as the Davidson Plantation, is a historic

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 ...

Centreville Centreville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. It had a population of 73,518, making it the most-populous community in Fairfax County as of t ...

Bibb County, Alabama Bibb County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. The county is a part of the Birmingham, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is included in the ARC's definition of Appalachia. As of the 24th decennial 2020 ce ...

, United States. ''See also:'' It 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 January 6, 1988.

History

The house was built in 1837 for Samuel Wilson Davidson, a native of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He settled in Bibb County (then Cahaba County) in 1819. He was one of the first people to purchase lots along the east bank of the

Cahaba River The Cahaba River is the longest substantially free-flowing river in Alabama. It is a major tributary of the Alabama River and part of the larger Mobile River basin. With headwaters near Birmingham, the Cahaba flows southwest, then at Heiberger tu ...

in what would become the city of Centreville during 1823. Davidson eventually amassed farmlands amounting to more than . His real estate was valued at $12,000 (~$ in ) and he owned 98 slaves in 1850. By 1860, Davidson was the most extensive planter and wealthiest citizen in the area. He died in 1863. The house remained in the Davidson family until 1869, when it was purchased by Thomas and Betty Smitherman. Thomas Smitherman was a prominent local attorney. Smitherman descendants retained the property until it was sold to William E. Henderson in 1963. He, in turn, sold it after two years to Charles L. Hollinsworth, who sold it to Gladys Pittman Leggett in 1972.

Architecture

The -story

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

house is notable as one of the only two best antebellum houses remaining in the county and as one of the two earliest and least altered houses built in Centreville by the city's leading builders, George Howard and Enoch Carson. The wood-frame structure is set over a full brick basement. The front and rear both feature three

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

facades, inset with 12 over 12 sash windows downstairs and 12 over 8 windows upstairs. The front facade features a full-width two-tiered porch with decorative brackets, while the rear features a one-story porch with brackets matching those on the front. The interior is arranged on a center hall plan, with a reverse flight stairway. The house has Federal style mantles and wainscoting, with heart pine floors throughout.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson-Smitherman House National Register of Historic Places in Bibb County, Alabama Houses in Bibb County, Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Federal architecture in Alabama Plantation houses in Alabama Houses completed in 1837 1837 establishments in Alabama Centreville, Alabama