Housed in renovated Southern Railway Terminal. Contains artifacts, documents, photographs, 1800s furnishings and farm implements, Civil War collection relating to 1862 28th Alabama Regiment, antique telephone display, library.
The McAdory Plantation House
Street address:
216 Eastern Valley Rd,
Bessemer, AL 35020
Phone:
205-426-1633
GPS:
33.374566, -86.961589
The McAdory Plantation House was built around 1840 on an estate of about 2,000 acres by Thomas McAdory, Jr. The pioneer architect constructed the dog-trot style house from numbered hand-hewn logs and wooden pegs. Descendants of the builder who were born in the home included Robert McAdory, who became the first mayor of the City of Bessemer, and Dr. Thomas M. Owen, who was one of the founders of the Alabama State Archives and Department of History, the first state archives in the
United States.
Currently the McAdory ‘Boys Cabin’ is being returned to its original appearance by the Society. The separate structure was built as additional rooms for the McAdory family’s boys in the nineteenth century. Later, in the twentieth century, it was modified to be a rental structure with an updated appearance.
The main McAdory structure was donated to the Society by McAdory family members in the 1970’s. The Boys Cabin was donated in the late 1990’s by the same family.
Also, interestingly, the site is bordered on two sides by the smallest Federal Wildlife Preserve in the United States.
Related attractions
Original structures dating from early 1800s, built of logs covered with clapboard. Many original owners contributed to development of Alabama in education, politics, veterinary medicine, agriculture and other fields.
Neat course, relatively short. Tree-lined. Small, nice greens.
Variety of shopping and sightseeing options. Home to Alabama's oldest restaurant, The Bright Star, and many renovated buildings dating back to 1887.
Rolling hills, trees and water.
Preserved and operated by the West Jefferson County Historical Society.
Thomas Hennington Owen originally began construction on the Owen Plantation House in 1833 when he built the two rooms that now make up the back wing. He and his bride, Malissa Rose Sadler, moved into the quaint structure that year.