Over the years, this historic mansion has been restored to its original pre-Civil War appearance. View all AHC Owned Historic Houses & Museums. You can visit the historic Belle Mont Mansion at 1569 Cook Ln., Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674. It was built by Joseph and Adelicia Acklen to serve as the center of their 180-acre summer estate in what was then country outside the city, and featured elaborate gardens and a zoo. The abandonment of the home was the largest cause of its deterioration and the vandalism that occurred at Belle Mont. She was caught due to a news story that came out in the local paper about the travesties of vandalism happening to the historic landmark by local youth. It has a staff of three: a site director, curator, and tour guide.
Plantation Home Tours in Alabama | Getaway USA - The Arizona Republic The antebellum plantation experience, as lived by the enslaved, was neither happy nor joyous. The article included a large photo of an interior shot of the mansion with my great aunts name first and last blazoned across the room in graffiti! But fewer probably know that it . The designer is unknown but seems to have been influenced by Thomas Jefferson's ideas and style. This design is derived from the neoclassical architectural style of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville hired a black historian to research the site's enslavement history and to offer tours so visitors can learn about the African Americans who were enslaved on the property. Violence against blacks and other disenfranchised groups have occurred across our nation's landscape, many in popular and well-trod locales, North and South, East and West. Shes told me that prior to the restorations the mansion was a prime site for local teens to be dumb kids trespass, vandalize, etc. At first you think this is all in your imagination.
Plantation Christmas event near Tuscumbia 'racist', groups say It once stretched over 5400 acres and hosted celebrities, presidents, and countless southern gentlemen. Nor do the sins of our forefathers nullify their many acts of virtue or the great political and cultural gifts they bestowed upon future generations. He says, the man that lives in that house. still pointing. Montvale, the farm at Belmont, was destroyed in 1864. Owning 1,680 acres of cotton and corn, Dr. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. I dont think only certain places are as haunted, as the belief that there are paranormal things happening all around us everywhere, and just certain people are allowed to witness these things at certain times. This is not to say there isnt something a bit discomforting about vendors labeling slave cabins on these properties as evoking an elaborate past, as if blacks were happy, willing participants in a fanciful world of white gentry as portrayed in Gone with the Wind. All the same, targeting Southern wedding venues for bigotry reflects yet another manifestation of a purification of our culture and history. The property is located just south of Tuscumbia and west of US Route 43 at 1569 Cook Lane. The other residents seem to tolerate it OK, but I hate it. Please contact nps.submissions@gmail.com for more information. He has a bachelors in history and masters in teaching from the University of Virginia and a masters in theology from Christendom College. Yes, its true that some historical artifacts across Americas landscape are honored in ways that belittle or demean our fellow countrymen. Today the Belmont Mansion Association, which was formed in 1972, owns the collection, runs the museum, and shares this unique story of 19th century Nashville with visitors from far and near. So all the people who work at these historic plantations, regardless of their race, sex, or income, must suffer the economic consequences of what feelings their employers history might provoke. The organization behind this growing movement, Color of Change, indicts vendors for using words like breathtaking to describe plantations. All rights reserved. Went back into the cellar a coupple more times, but never had that akward feeling again.
The Massive, Overlooked Role of Female Slave Owners The tell when I was growing up was that the book 13 Alabama Ghosts held a tell from that house. Have a haunt/halloween related news story or a tip?
The 7 Best Plantation Day Trips And Tours In Alabama - OnlyInYourState Your email address will not be published. Belle Mont attracts approximately 5,000 visitors each year. Because of the tragedies that transpired therin, they powerfully communicate how far America has come. It was built in 1940 on some of the land near General John Coffees home. First, there is no such thing as a slave plantation. There are cotton plantations, sugar plantations, tobacco plantations, etc., etc., but no slave plantations. 2019 was the year it finally became socially unacceptable to use a historic plantation as a wedding venue. Its just really weird that we both saw this happen at the exact same time. Belle Mont also illustrates Jeffersons reverence for the neoclassical architectural elements and ideas of the Italian Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio," (Commission 2). For some reason a lot of places in Tuscumbia AL are haunted. We went back there, and I finished the project, with help from all was involved. It was then purchased by two women who in 1890 started a college which evolved into Belmont University. A variety of factors have made researching the lives of Belmont's enslaved residents difficult. Slaves in the plantation generations were members of what Berlin calls "slave societies," where slavery was the primary source of labor. Doors open and close. Belle Mont was erected in 1828 for a physician from Louisa County, Virginia, Dr. Alexander Williams Mitchell. The Belle Mont Mansion in Tuscumbia Alabama was built around 1828 for physician and planter Alexander Williams Mitchell. Visitors to this page: 3,182
Slave child's doll inside Belle Mont Mansion. Violence against blacks and other disenfranchised groups have occurred across our nations landscape, many in popular and well-trod locales, North and South, East and West. Officials from multiple wedding-planning websites recently announced they are either no longer advertising plantation wedding venues or making those venues harder to find on their websites. Belle Mont is located south of Tuscumbia in Colbert Couty in northwest Alabama. Wesley Thompson of Bethel Colbert Missionary Baptists Church also signed the letter. According to census records, Mitchell enslaved 115 people at the cotton plantation. Do not use all capital letters.
Belmont Mansion (Tennessee) - Wikipedia Not-So-Scary Haunted Houses (Kid Friendly). The Conway family purchased the property in 1670 and it remained in the family for 120 years. Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. General Martin retired to his Belle Mont plantation at Leatherwood, which he purchased in 1796 from Benjamin Harrison V of Berkeley Plantation. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. And in the process, these attacks have unintended economic consequences on working-class Americans. This celebration clearly ignores the perspective of those who experienced Belle Mont as a forced labor camp., Slavery hard to teach in Cotton State of Alabama, elementary educators say. Dr. Mitchell and his family of seven were already living in Belle Mont when it was fully completed in 1832. Blanket from Belle Mont Mansion. Black people dont have happy memories of the antebellum period and plantations, where our ancestors were beaten and tortured, said senior campaign director Jade Magnus Ogunnaike. These families included the Baker and Snowden families, among others. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! That seems far more justified than puritannical policing of plantations. During the 1960s, star-crossed lovers camped inside the rotting mansion in the woods, and the home has long been the site of drunken high school parties. All rights reserved. Belle Mont Mansion is located outside of Tuscumbia. Administrative use only. We might also remember that many of the most celebrated and visited historical sites in our country are Southern manors built and worked by slaves: Mount Vernon (itself a wedding venue), Monticello (another wedding venue), and Montpelier (also a wedding venue) among them. However, the pamphlet continues by claiming that, characteristics of Jeffersonian Classicism are exhibited at Belle Mont, including finely executed brickwork with contrasting woodwork and a hilltop setting. Visiting here is an opportunity to explore one of the few 1850s era homes still standing in Nashville while learning about the place and the people -- both free and enslaved -- who make this site worth understanding. I dont know any ghost stories but my mother tells a few funny stories. This was just word of mouth and may not have been accurate, but Im glad to hear it can be toured.
Belle mont mansion slaves - yjgp.hendrik-aus-e.de Belle Mont Mansion | Haunted Places | Tuscumbia, AL 35674 Dr. Mitchell and his family of seven were already living in Belle Mont when it was fully completed in 1832. The site is 1/4 mile west of US 43 South on Cook Lane, three miles south of intersection US 43 and US 72. ?????? If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know! Nanyehi was among the first Cherokee to own African-American slaves. Countless Haunt Hunters have been arrested, ticketed, and reprimanded by the authorities for trespassing. Belle Mont Mansion, known for its architecture, was built in 1828 for Alexander Williams Mitchell. Private property should be respected at all times, as should all posted signs concerning trespassing, hours of operation and other local regulations. The house and surrounding property are reportedly haunted by the former slaves that lived and died on the plantation.
Belmont Mansion | Nashville Historic House Museum My great great great great grandfather used to live at the belle mont mansion ! Stay safe. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, he was a physician, planter, and an early elected official of Franklin (present-day Colbert) County, where he settled around 1820. Belle Mont also illustrates Jeffersons reverence for the neoclassical architectural elements and ideas of the Italian Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio,The Winston family maintained ownership and continued living in Belle Mont through the Civil War and until around 1940. Indeed, it was brutal and terrifying. Dr. Mitchell and his family of seven were already living in Belle Mont when it was fully completed in 1832. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends. According to the letter, Christmas was a disturbing time for the enslaved. Its also not as if Dixie estates were the only sites where acts of brutality were committed by one group of Americans against another. The site is 1/4 mile west of US 43 South on Cook Lane, three miles south of intersection US 43 and US 72. William F. Buckleys popularization of Eric Voegelins warning is apt: Dont immanentize the eschaton!. Lewis called our tendency to view our own age as superior to others, is a dark chasm ending in our own destruction. Although the actual design of Belle Mont is a mystery, this particular relationship provides a clue about the original designer, or at least his influence. Most Americans know that George Washington owned enslaved people at his Mount Vernon home. Earlier this month, prodded by the group Color of Change, four wedding websites said they . The answer will always be a mystery. Belle Mont Mansion is a historic house museum open for guided tours. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), NPS Investigation & Research Education Resource, World Institute for Scientific Exploration (WISE), http://www.mystery411.com/Landing_bellemonttuscumbia.html. To avoid this, be sure to get in touch with the property owners before visiting a haunt, and respect their hours of operation, local regulations, and rules for visiting at all times. After finding lesson plans asking Alabama fourth-graders to write their own slave narratives, experts talk about the hardships of teaching slavery on an elementary school level. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. As there is not formal cemetery for the slaves it is likely that they were buried on some part of the estate. The source of Belle Monts design is shrouded in mystery, but tantalizing clues suggest the direct influence of President Thomas Jefferson, gentlemen architect of the early Republic, the official Belle Mont pamphlet states (Commission 2). "The celebration of a 'Plantation Christmas' represents a willful ignorance of the experience of enslaved people and a concocted memory of a joyous, white supremacist Christmas celebration," the letter said. Located just outside Tuscumbia in Colbert County, the mansion is one of a few Palladian-style houses in the Deep South. 1569 Cook Lane, Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674 View Map CONTACT Site Director: Ninon Parker Museum: 256- 381-5052 Email: bellemontmansion@gmail.com Belle Mont also illustrates Jeffersons reverence for the neoclassical architectural elements and ideas of the Italian Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio,. Built between 1828 and 1832 in the Jeffersonian style, Belle Mont was originally the home of Dr. Alexander Mitchell, who quickly sold the building to one Isaac Winston in 1833.
In 1833, the property was bought by Issac Williams, who owned 119 enslaved people by 1855. Id suggest a far better solution for prospective newlyweds, regardless of race or ethnicity, would be to get married where they should: in a church. Belle Mont is located south of Tuscumbia in Colbert Couty in northwest Alabama. The Alabama Historical Commission owns this historic site. The home was built. While slavery is often associated with large plantations, the institution permeated Southern culture. This area of the property can be accessed from the master bedroom through a large door with a window that leads directly to the courtyard area, which is where the detached kitchen would have been accessed as well. Belle Mont Mansion, known for its architecture, was built in 1828 for Alexander Williams Mitchell. Very little historic data, including census records, include last names of those who were enslaved, making it challenging to locate descendents through geneaology records. Beyond Jesus Revolution: 10 Outside-The-Box Faith-Based Films On The Horizon, Major Doctors Organization Publicly Embraces Dismembering Babies Until Birth, Congress Quietly Left The Door Open To Funneling More Tax Dollars To EcoHealth Research In China For National Security, Utah Considers Ranked-Choice Voting In Primaries Despite Disasters In Alaska And Maine. Share Your Experience or Comments - Belle Mont. This is not a good thing. If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know! In 1983, concerned about the condition of the house, members of the Winston family donated Belle Mont and 33 surrounding acres to the Alabama Historical Commission.The house and surrounding property are reportedly haunted by the former slaves that lived and died on the plantation. In addition, volunteers from the Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation assist as docents for special events and participate in fund-raising activities. Built between 1828 and 1832 in the Jeffersonian style, Belle Mont was originally the home of Dr. Alexander Mitchell, who quickly sold the building to one Isaac Winston in 1833. An example of this occurred in December, when a number of black medical students posed for a photo at a former slave plantation, a site some of them called holy. Heck, why not celebrate their graduation there? The celebration of a Plantation Christmas is racist, the letter reads.
Belle Mont | Tuscumbia Alabama | Real Haunted Place The house is listed on the National Historic Registry (#19820223). Come to Belle Mont to learn more about Palladian architecture and to see first-hand the tantalizing clues suggesting the direct influence of Thomas Jefferson himself.
How Did Slaves Get To Alabama? - CLJ Couple looking at a car in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. This area of the property can be accessed from the master bedroom through a large door with a window that leads directly to the courtyard area, which is where the detached kitchen would have been accessed as well.The Mitchell family sold Belle Mont and 33 of the surrounding acres to their friends Isaac and Catherine Baker Jones Winston, who were also from Virginia, in 1833. I have lived here since 1963.
Haunted Places in Tupelo, Mississippi 3. And have seen shadows and once a figure of a person. The letter was also sent to Ninon Parker, who is listed as a site director for the Belle Mont Mansion. According to census records, Mitchell enslaved 115 people at the cotton plantation. Will NOT be displayed. All rights reserved (About Us). Belle Mont Mansion By Ken Weigandin Ashley Ann Lewis, Haunted Locations Belle Mont was erected in 1828 for a physician from Louisa County, Virginia, Dr. Alexander Williams Mitchell. I grew up in Florence and my Great Grandmother lived near the mansion on Colbert Heights mountain. We have located just two first-hand accounts of slavery at Belmont. Belle Mont Mansion , built circa 1828, is one of the few examples of Palladian-style houses in Alabama. Off Campus Book Store University of North Alabama, Norton Auditorium University of North Alabama.
Welcome to mystery411 Haunted Belle Mont Tuscumbia page. Their appetites will not be satisfied until all things and persons associated with injustice, real or imagined, are expunged from public experience and memory. Founded in 2008, AlabamaHauntedHouses.com is a simple and unique online haunted event & attraction resource created to make it easy for locals to find Haunted House, Spook Walk, Corn Maze, and other Halloween Attractions in their local area.
The coalition said the event celebrated white supremacy by ignoring the enslaved people who labored at the cotton plantation. Last edit to this listing: 1/16/2016 (2604 days ago). It remained in the Winston family for over a century, and is currently used as a historic house museum open for tours by appointment. Please report any inaccuracies. Many of them, even their detractors must admit, are beautiful, both in reference to their natural surroundings and their architecture. Magnificently sited on a commanding hilltop, Belle Mont is one of early Alabama's crowning architectural achievements.. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. If such locales have tragic histories, this is all the more reason to reimagine them in ways that both recognize and overcome that past. We also dont need to police their repurposing. Gift Shop (111 S. Main St., Tuscumbia). In 1983, concerned about the condition of the house, members of the Winston family donated Belle Mont and 33 surrounding acres to the Alabama Historical Commission.
Emerging Civil War This style stems from the neoclassical architectural design of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Visit BelmontMansionEvents.com to review options to Elope in Nashville at Belmont Mansion. Visiting here is an opportunity to explore one of the few 1850s era homes still standing in Nashville while learning about the place and the people -- both free and enslaved -- who make this site worth understanding.