The Alston-Cobb House, now formally known as the Clarke County Museum, is a historic house museum in Grove Hill

Grove Hill, Alabama

Grove Hill is a town in Clarke County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,438. It is the county seat of Clarke County and home of the Clarke County Museum.-History:...

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

. It was built in 1854 by Dr. Lemuel Lovett Alston as a Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...

 I-house

I-house

The I-house is a vernacular house type, popular in the United States from the colonial period onward. The I-house was so named in the 1930s by Fred Kniffen, a specialist in folk architecture who identified and analyzed the type in his 1936 study of Louisiana house types...

, a vernacular

Vernacular architecture

Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...

 style also known in the South

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 as Plantation Plain. It is one of only four examples of an I-house to survive intact in Clarke County

Clarke County, Alabama

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*54.5% White*43.9% Black*0.4% Native American*0.3% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*0.7% Two or more races*1.0% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

.

History

Lemuel Alston migrated to Grove Hill and began the practice of medicine around 1852. The house was completed in 1854, shortly before his marriage to Sarah French Jackson on November 1, 1854. The house was subsequently owned by the Bettis, Cobb, Bumpers, and Postma families until it was purchased by the Clarke County Historical Society in 1980. The historical society restored the house and opened it as the Clarke County Museum in 1986. The museum features exhibits that cover a broad range of topics from Zeuglodon fossils to the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and an antebellum

Antebellum architecture

Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...

 kitchen. The Alston-Cobb House was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage

Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage

The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, commonly referred to as the Alabama Register, is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama. These properties, which may be of national, state, and local...

 on September 1, 1978 and to the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 1979.

The grounds

Several historic structures have been moved to the museum grounds and restored. The Creagh Law Office, built in 1834 by Judge John Gates Creagh, was moved to the site in 1990 and restored. The Turner Corn Crib is a corn crib

Corn crib

A corn crib or corncrib is a type of granary used to dry and store corn. It is also known as a cornhouse or corn house, though this term can refer to any granary....

 which is thought to have been partially built from timbers salvaged from Fort Turner, a log fortification that served the area during the Creek War

Creek War

The Creek War , also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, began as a civil war within the Creek nation...

 in 1813. It was moved to the grounds in 2001 and restored. The Mathews Cabin was acquired in 2005 and restoration was completed in 2008. It is a log cabin

Log cabin

A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...

 with two large rooms separated by a breezeway

Breezeway

A breezeway is an architectural feature similar to a hallway that allows the passage of a breeze between structures to accommodate high winds, allow aeration, or provide aesthetic design variation. Often a breezeway is a simple roof connecting two structures ; sometimes it can be much more like a...

, a form often known as a dogtrot house

Dogtrot house

The dogtrot, also known as a breezeway house, dog-run, or possum-trot, is a style of house that was common throughout the Southeastern United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Most theories place its origins in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Some scholars believe the style...

, and dates to the mid-19th century.

External links

• Clarke County Historical Museum