Plaster Envy and Other Discoveries
This weekend was a semi-annual event in Eutaw known as the pilgrimage. It's a self-guided tour to several historic buildings in the area.
Saturday was cool and rainy, but we decided to make the one-minute drive to downtown Eutaw and look around at all the shops. We browsed the two antique shops and the general store, which surprised me by having chi-chi decorative items alongside washing machines and other appliances. There we bought the book A Walking and Driving Guide to Historic Eutaw, which contains a photo and tidbit of information about our house. We were pleased all out of proportion to see our house there in print.
On our wanderings around the little square, we discovered that the Greene County Historic Preservation Society was having a BBQ-plate lunch to raise money. There we found out the pilgrimage was this weekend, and we bought tickets. I couldn't pass up the chance to see inside of some of the historic homes and get inspiration.
We toured four homes (1826, 1840s, 1850s and 1860), all restored or in the process of restoration. It was a very enlightening experience, though all the incredible antiques made our furniture look like it was made from cardboard and glue sticks.
And it made me miss the plaster that had been replaced with sheetrock in our house by the Parkins long ago. *Sigh*
But the best - and most unexpected - part of the tour was finding out information about our house. One woman told us our house was the best place to play when she was a child because it was right across from the park. It made me wonder who she played with ... the Parkins retired in our house, so maybe it was their visiting granchildren?
Then we met a woman whose late husband's grandmother was none other than the Mary Julia Dunlap who built our house. She said his last name was Jackson, and that helped me find out that his mother was MJ's daughter Laura (who married Alley Jackson, the high school principal). She said MJ's maiden name was McGiffert and that her brother (who lived in the 1830s white house next door) gave MJ the land to build the house on.
The woman said her husband and the other grandchildren were the ones who sold the house to the Parkins in 1969. MJ could've died around then (though she would've been around 96 years old), but I'm not sure if her daughter had taken possession for a while or what. Either way, there have only been three owners of our house - the Dunlaps, the Parkins and now the Walters.
The Walking and Driving Guide to Historic Eutaw Alabama says the house was built "around the turn of the century" and added on to "to accommodate a growing family." But the time frame of MJ's first and second marriages, births of children, etc. doesn't explain what they meant by a "growing family."
I wish I could've talked with the Parkins, who must've known more about the history of the house.
Saturday was cool and rainy, but we decided to make the one-minute drive to downtown Eutaw and look around at all the shops. We browsed the two antique shops and the general store, which surprised me by having chi-chi decorative items alongside washing machines and other appliances. There we bought the book A Walking and Driving Guide to Historic Eutaw, which contains a photo and tidbit of information about our house. We were pleased all out of proportion to see our house there in print.
On our wanderings around the little square, we discovered that the Greene County Historic Preservation Society was having a BBQ-plate lunch to raise money. There we found out the pilgrimage was this weekend, and we bought tickets. I couldn't pass up the chance to see inside of some of the historic homes and get inspiration.
We toured four homes (1826, 1840s, 1850s and 1860), all restored or in the process of restoration. It was a very enlightening experience, though all the incredible antiques made our furniture look like it was made from cardboard and glue sticks.
And it made me miss the plaster that had been replaced with sheetrock in our house by the Parkins long ago. *Sigh*
But the best - and most unexpected - part of the tour was finding out information about our house. One woman told us our house was the best place to play when she was a child because it was right across from the park. It made me wonder who she played with ... the Parkins retired in our house, so maybe it was their visiting granchildren?
Then we met a woman whose late husband's grandmother was none other than the Mary Julia Dunlap who built our house. She said his last name was Jackson, and that helped me find out that his mother was MJ's daughter Laura (who married Alley Jackson, the high school principal). She said MJ's maiden name was McGiffert and that her brother (who lived in the 1830s white house next door) gave MJ the land to build the house on.
The woman said her husband and the other grandchildren were the ones who sold the house to the Parkins in 1969. MJ could've died around then (though she would've been around 96 years old), but I'm not sure if her daughter had taken possession for a while or what. Either way, there have only been three owners of our house - the Dunlaps, the Parkins and now the Walters.
The Walking and Driving Guide to Historic Eutaw Alabama says the house was built "around the turn of the century" and added on to "to accommodate a growing family." But the time frame of MJ's first and second marriages, births of children, etc. doesn't explain what they meant by a "growing family."
I wish I could've talked with the Parkins, who must've known more about the history of the house.
Labels: tours
posted by K | 3:16 PM
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