Magnolia Hall (Alabama) facts for kids
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Magnolia Hall is a beautiful old plantation house located in Greensboro, Alabama. It's also known as the McCrary-Otts House. This historic home is a great example of Greek Revival architecture, which was popular a long time ago. It's listed as an important building in the Greensboro Historic District. Experts from the Historic American Buildings Survey studied and recorded it back in 1936.
History of Magnolia Hall
Greensboro became a very rich town in the mid-1800s. This was thanks to the huge growth of cotton farming. In 1850, a lawyer and legislator named William Murphy sold a great piece of land. He sold it to David F. McCrary, who was a well-known cotton broker and planter. A planter was someone who owned a large farm, often growing cotton.
David McCrary came from North Carolina. He married Elizabeth Cowan Lowry, whose family was very important in Alabama. McCrary had Murphy's old house moved away. He then hired an architect named B. F. Parsons to design a brand new, grand home. The house was finished around 1855. A local newspaper, the Alabama Beacon, reported that the house cost $10,000. This was a very large amount of money at that time!
David McCrary's money was safe even after the American Civil War. He started the Greensboro Bank and Exchange in 1871. When McCrary passed away in 1888, his only living child and her husband inherited the property. Their son and his wife bought the house from other family members in the 1920s. Magnolia Hall stayed in the McCrary family until 1970. It was then sold to Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Baines. The house was sold again in 2011.
Architecture of Magnolia Hall
There is still a detailed, twelve-page building plan for Magnolia Hall. It describes how the house should look. It mentions large porches, called porticos, on both the north and south sides. Each porch has six tall, fluted columns. These columns follow the "Grecian Ionic Order," which is a classic Greek design style. All the decorative parts, like the Entablature and Mouldings, were made to match this style perfectly.
The house also features double balconies with delicate iron railings. Around the doors, you can see colorful glass transoms. Inside, the rooms are very large, with high 14-foot ceilings. There are special decorations on the ceilings for chandeliers. A grand mahogany-railed staircase stands in the main hallway. W. E. Yerby, who wrote a History of Greensboro, said that Magnolia Hall "is without a doubt one of the finest old homes in Alabama." He also called it "a perfect example of late Greek Revival architecture."
Gallery
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Balcony facing west, 1936
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Stairway, 1936
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Entrance hall, 1936
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Double doors in living room, 1936
