The St. Matthew Lodge No. 5 in Eufaula, Alabama, was one of ten Colored Lodges already in existence in the state before the Prince Hall Lodges officially began in Alabama in 1870. This lodge worked under the National Compact Grand Lodge.
I am a newbie to identifying house structures, but I have stared at this quirky home a few different times. Tax records indicate it was built in 1870. It is on a street of similar-aged homes.
I believe this home started out as a wooden Gothic Revival. At some point, another gable or feature was removed to add the Colonial Revival-esque columns. The windows are not original. I do wonder when brick was added to the facade.
This Greek Revival home was built in the 1840s for Dr. William Lockhart Cowan. William Cowan and his wife, Anna, had eight children. Five of them lived to adulthood. Their second eldest daughter, Laura, married a local doctor, Dr. Robert Fleming. Fleming moved into the Cowan home. Known as a sleepwalker, he awoke one night and fell off the balcony. Paralyzed by the fall, he and his wife moved to live with his relative to get care. Her mother and sister followed them.
The family sold the home to Jacob Ramser, a Swiss craftsman. Ramser was known for his carpentry skills. He built the first theater in town.
The Ramser family lived in the home until they sold it to the White family, who turned it into a funeral home. The Colonel White and Sons Funeral Home was in business until 2004. The building has been vacant since. It is listed as an Alabama Place of Peril. It’s sustained damage from storms, and the roof has been breached.
It was documented in 1934 as part of the Historic American Building Survey. It is one of the last remaining Greek Revival homes in the area.
The Petty-Roberts House, commonly known as The Octagon House, is one of two octagon houses built in Alabama. It is the only one that still stands. The home was built between 1859 and 1861 using a method called “gravel walls,” a mixture of sand, gravel, and water. The seventeen-inch thick walls helped keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It is a three-story home with a cupola. A basement serves as a living space, too. At the time of the 1860 Slave Census, Petty enslaved two men in their thirties. I could not find any information as to where they stayed on the property.
During the Civil War, it was occupied by Union Brevet Maj. Gen. Benjamin H. Grierson. Benjamin Franklin Perry, the first owner of the home, offered it to the Union troops in hopes it wouldn’t be destroyed while the town of Clayton was occupied.
A fuller history of the house can be read on the Encyclopedia of Alabama’s website.
The Clayton Presbyterian Church was founded in 1874 by Reverend G. R. Foster under the auspices of the Presbytery of East Alabama. The church was built in 1881 at the cost of $2400.
Clayton, Alabama needs to declare the area around its downtown area a historic district. There are so many beautiful houses and a few churches in the surrounding area that need this recognition. It would also help keep the history of the buildings.
The build date for this home is 1885. That is all I can find.
