Waldwic is a historic

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massin ...

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 ...

and

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

located on the west side of Alabama Highway 69, south of Gallion,

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 ...

, United States. Built as the main residence and headquarters of a forced-labor farm worked by

enslaved people 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 ...

, Waldwic is included in the Plantation Houses of the Alabama Canebrake and Their Associated Outbuildings Multiple Property Submission. The main house and plantation outbuildings were 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 July 22, 1994.

History

The house for Robert Gracey started in 1840 as "an unpretentious galleried farmhouse"https://sah-archipedia.org/detail%2Fcontent%2Fentries%2FAL-01-065-0017.xml?q=%28section%3AAL-01%29%20AND%20decade%3A1840s and was then expanded and renovated in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style in 1852. The facade then resembled a rendering of “Waldwic Cottage” from volume two of William H. Ranlett’s "The Architect: A series of original designs for domestic and ornamental cottages and villas (1851)." Ranlett could have been involved with the design of the renovation as he was retained by other wealthy southerners, but just as likely is that Ranlett's design inspired the house and name (to which a “k” was eventually added). The carpentry work was completed by Peter Lee and Joe Glasgow, skilled craftsmen enslaved by Captain H.A. Tayloe, who owned the neighboring Macon Station Plantation. Lee and Glasgow also built St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Prairieville, Alabama) (1853–1854) in the Carpenter Gothic style and the decorative interior woodwork. Gracey's widow remarried after Robert's death to Willis Bocock in 1856. The 1860 United States census of Marengo County indicates that Bocock enslaved 127 people in that year and the 1870s map of Hale County lists him as the owner still. The Waldwic property was originally within Marengo County, but this portion of Marengo was added to Hale County upon its creation in 1867. Robert Gracey's granddaughter, Bertha Gracey Steele, married at Waldwic in 1889 to William Micajah Spencer. He was a lawyer and was elected to the

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district con ...

in 1901. The house is one of only about 20

residential structures remaining in Alabama. Other historic

residences in the area include

Ashe Cottage Ashe Cottage, also known as the Ely House, is a historic Carpenter Gothic house in Demopolis, Alabama. It was built in 1832 and expanded and remodeled in the Gothic Revival style in 1858 by William Cincinnatus Ashe, a physician from North Caro ...

Demopolis Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the 2020 census. The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and Tombigbee River. It is situated atop a cliff composed of th ...

and Fairhope Plantation in Uniontown.

References

External links

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Photograph of Waldwic in 2004
{{National Register of Historic Places History of slavery in Alabama National Register of Historic Places in Hale County, Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Carpenter Gothic architecture in Alabama Houses completed in 1840 Plantation houses in Alabama Houses in Hale County, Alabama Historic districts in Hale County, Alabama Historic American Buildings Survey in Alabama Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama