Gaineswood is a plantation house in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. It is the grandest plantation house ever built in Marengo County and is one of the most significant remaining examples of

Greek Revival architecture The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

in Alabama.Gamble, Robert ''Historic architecture in Alabama: a guide to styles and types, 1810-1930'', page 76. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1990. . The house was built with the profits of forced labor, and much of the actual construction was performed by enslaved people. It was completed on the eve of the American Civil War after a construction period of almost 20 years. The house and grounds are currently operated by the Alabama Historical Commission as a historic house museum.

History

Gaineswood was designed and built by General Nathan Bryan Whitfield, beginning in 1843 as a dog-trot cabin, an open-hall log dwelling. Whitfield was a cotton planter who had moved from North Carolina to Marengo County, Alabama in 1834. In 1842, Whitfield bought the property from

George Strother Gaines George Strother Gaines (1 May 1784 – 21 January 1873) was a federal Indian agent in the Mississippi Territory (today's Alabama and Mississippi). He began as the US Indian agent to the Choctaw, explored the country west of the Mississippi R ...

, younger brother of Edmund P. Gaines. By 1860, Whitfield owned as many as 7,200 acres and had 235 enslaved people working his land, which produced nearly 600 bales of cotton that year, though not all at Gaineswood. The grounds had been the site of a notable historic event while owned by George Gaines. When Gaines was serving as the U.S. Indian Agent, he is said to have met with the famous

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Pushmataha, of the

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

Nation, under an old post oak tree on what would become the Gaineswood estate. They were negotiating the terms of the treaty that would lead to the Choctaw removal to Indian Territory. The tree became known as the Pushmataha Oak.Hammond, Ralph ''Ante-bellum Mansions of Alabama'', pages 114-120. New York: Architectural Book Publishers, 1951. In 1843, Whitfield gave his farm the name of Marlmont; in 1856, he renamed it Gaineswood in honor of Gaines.Marengo County Heritage Book Committee: ''The heritage of Marengo County, Alabama'', page 18. Clanton, Alabama: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000. The Whitfield family tradition maintained that Gaines' original log house was the nucleus around which Whitfield had the mansion built, and that it was located at the present site of the south entrance hall and office." Gen. Whitfield sold the house to his son, Dr. Bryan Watkins Whitfield, in 1861. The second generation of Whitfields maintained Gaineswood as a residence. Mary Foscue Whitfield inherited the nearby Foscue–Whitfield House in 1861 upon her father's death and used that as a residence as well. In 1923 the Whitfield family sold Gaineswood. After years of use as a private residence, Gaineswood was purchased in 1966 by the state of Alabama from Dr. J.D. McLeod, for preservation as a house museum.

Architecture

Gaineswood was completed in its current Greek Revival form in 1861. It is considered to be " Alabama's finest neoclassical house" and one of

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

's most unusual neoclassical mansions. Gaineswood is one of the few Greek Revival homes in the United States that uses all three of the ancient Greek architectural orders: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Built when tastes were shifting to the Italianate style, it features a partially asymmetrical layout. Whitfield is known to have designed most of the house from pattern books by James Stuart, Minard Lafever, Nicholas Revett and others. Much of the work on the house was executed by highly skilled artisans who, while doing the work were given shelter and food in exchange. During these times many worked on farms in exchange for housing and minimal funds as work was scarce. .

Exterior

The exterior has a decorative stucco over brick treatment, intended to simulate

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

blocks. The exterior features the use of eighteen fluted Doric columns and 14 plain square pillars to support the three porches, the main

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

, and the porte-cochère. The assorted porches surround most of three sides of the structure. Parterre gardens off of the main north portico and south porch are surrounded by low masonry and wood balustrades and feature period-appropriate plantings and marble statuary. A rooftop observation ring with a vasiform balustrade surmounts the house and was used for observing the estate. The estate has three surviving outbuildings: a cook's house, a garden pavilion with eight fluted Corinthian columns, and a monumental gatehouse that date to the antebellum period. The tripartite entrance gate features massive pillars crowned by large metal finials and elaborate cast iron gates. The gatehouse and gates had to moved closer to the house as the city streets were widened in the 20th century. No quarters for the enslaved residents were preserved, although some may have existed into the early 20th century for use as residences for workers on the plantation.

Interior

The interior features decorative plasterwork throughout the main floor. The library and the dining room both feature elaborate

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

d ceilings with central skylights. The hallway features

fluted Fluting may refer to: * Fluting (architecture) * Fluting (firearms) *Fluting (geology) * Fluting (glacial) *Fluting (paper) Arts, entertainment, and media *Fluting on the Hump See also *Flute (disambiguation) A flute is a musical instrument. ...

Ionic columns in the main entrance hall with reception rooms to either side, one for each sex. The master's bedroom also features two

Ionic columns supporting a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

that visually divides the room into bedroom and sitting room. The mistress' bedroom features a large floor-to-ceiling semicircular bay with curved windows and is fronted by two fluted Corinthian columns. Doors to either side of the bay provide access to the semicircular porch outside with its six Doric columns. The ballroom features four fluted Corinthian columns and 24 fluted Corinthian

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

, vis-à-vis mirrors, an elaborate plaster

, and a coffered ceiling. The second floor is much simpler in decor and contains a boudoir, a nursery, and four large bedrooms.

Whitfield canal

Whitfield directed the digging of a drainage canal 1845 and 1863 to prevent water from overflowing and flooding the plantation. His slaves dug it by hand. The rainfall on a large section of the Gaineswood estate originally had to follow a course to reach the Tombigbee River. About one mile (1.6 km) long, the canal was dug to a depth of more than deep through the underlying chalk in some areas; it quickly diverts the surface water into the river at Demopolis.

Present

Gaineswood is on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973. The estate is owned by the state of Alabama and is administered by the Alabama Historical Commission. Severe moisture damage to the ceiling and dome in the dining room was corrected under a Save America's Treasures grant. The Whitfield family has donated or sold much of the original family furniture and some

statuary A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

to the Historical Commission to be used in the house. ''The Burning of the Eliza Battle,'' painted by Nathan B. Whitfield, still hangs at Gaineswood. He was a witness to the

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

disaster in 1858.

References

External links

Alabama Historical Commission: Gaineswood
* {{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Marengo County, Alabama National Historic Landmarks in Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Houses in Demopolis, Alabama Greek Revival houses in Alabama Historic house museums in Alabama Plantation houses in Alabama Museums in Marengo County, Alabama Tourist attractions in Marengo County, Alabama Alabama State Historic Sites Pendleton family residences Whitfield family residences 1843 establishments in Alabama