Georgia Cottage, also known as the Augusta Evans Wilson House, is a historic residence in

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

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. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on September 14, 1972, based on its association with

Augusta Jane Evans Augusta Jane Evans Wilson (May 8, 1835 – May 9, 1909), was an American author of Southern literature and a patriot of the South. She was the first woman to earn through her writing. Wilson was a native of Columbus, Georgia, and her first book ...

. She was one of the most popular American novelists of the nineteenth century and the first female author in the United States to earn over $100,000 for her work, but has been largely forgotten in recent times.

History

Colonel John Murrell of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

had the

Greek Revival 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 ...

style house built in 1840 for his daughter, Mrs. William A. Hardaway. It was then sold in 1855 to Alfred Batre, son of Adolphe Batre, Mobile Mayor (1830), who purchased it for his new bride Hortense Addison, daughter of

Lloyd Dulany Addison Lloyd, Lloyd's, or Lloyds may refer to: People * Lloyd (name), a variation of the Welsh word ' or ', which means "grey" or "brown" ** List of people with given name Lloyd ** List of people with surname Lloyd * Lloyd (singer) (born 1986), American ...

of the

Oxon Hill Manor Oxon Hill Manor is a neo- Georgian house of 49 rooms, located at Forest Heights, Prince George's County, Maryland. It was designed in 1928 for Sumner Welles (1892-1961) by the Washington architect, Jules Henri de Sibour (1872-1938). It was built ...

Addison's.

purchased the house from Batre in 1857 for her father, Matthew R. Evans, with the proceeds from her first book, ''Inez: A Tale of the Alamo''. Matthew Evans had relocated his family to Mobile from

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in 1849. The Batre's would move into 110 S Franklin Street, then 400 Church Street. Augusta Evans went on to write two of her most famous novels at Georgia Cottage, ''Macaria'' and '' St. Elmo''. She married Lorenzo Madison Wilson in the parlor of the house in 1868. Following her marriage she moved into her husband's Greek Revival mansion, Ashland, namesake of the modern

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neighborhood. Georgia Cottage remained in the Evans family until 1879, when it was sold to Andrew Damrell. Damrell's heirs sold it in 1926 to J.N. Brownlee, and it was subsequently purchased by Dr. Edward Simmons Sledge in 1935. Dr. Sledge's son, Eugene Bondurant Sledge, grew up at Georgia Cottage. He served in the

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during World War II and became a noted university professor and author. His memoir ''With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa'' was, in part, the basis for Ken Burn's

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documentary, '' The War'', and the

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miniseries, '' The Pacific''.

Architecture and grounds

Although now deep within the Mobile city limits, Georgia Cottage was a country house when originally built. Slave labor was utilized in its construction. The one-story wood-frame structure, on a brick foundation, is a stylistic blending of Gulf Coast cottage and Greek Revival forms. It has matching side wings to each side of the main block and a hipped roof. The house is situated at the end of a long avenue of live oaks, planted prior to 1840. The avenue is listed with Alabama's Famous and Historic Trees Program.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Mobile, Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Greek Revival houses in Alabama Houses in Mobile, Alabama Houses completed in 1840 Gulf Coast cottage architecture in Alabama