Miss Willie's House, also known as the Dr. Samuel Welch House, is a historic brick Queen Anne-style house in Talladega, Alabama,

USA 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It was built by Dr. Samuel W. Welch and his wife Ethel in 1907. Upon the deaths of Dr. Welch and his wife, the house passed to their daughter, Miss Willie Wallace Welch, who lived in the house until her death in 1997. The house is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the " Silk Stocking District", a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

designated in 1979 by the National Register of Historic Places in

Talladega County Talladega County (pronounced Talla-dig-a) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama."ACES Winston County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), 2007, webpageACES-Talladega As of t ...

History

The house was designed by renowned architect Frank Lockwood of Montgomery, Alabama, and built by contractor Robert S. West, of Talladega. This duo collaborated on many of Talladega's historic homes and buildings. Dr. Welch served as the State Health Officer for Alabama and spent much of his career addressing health and medical issues across the State. He was also a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

and an

Odd Fellow The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd ...

. Miss Willie Welch was a lifelong bachelorette, a local historian, and was employed by the Talladega Public Library for over 30 years.

Description

The Welch Home is one of only three solid brick houses in Talladega County - the walls being double-brick (8" thick). It features three bay windows and 17 Grecian columns along the wraparound porch. Although the house is a single-story house, the roof was built tall and steep in case the attic was ever converted to living space. The floor plan is divided by a wide central hallway with rooms on each side. The extra-wide hallway was built to accommodate a staircase at the rear for access to the attic. Two of the four interior fireplaces feature French enameled mantles. At the time of construction, neither gas nor electric lines had been installed in the neighborhood so the house was both wired for electric lighting and piped for gas lighting. Electric lines reached the neighborhood first, so electric light fixtures were purchased for the house. The gas pipes and fittings can still be seen in each room today.

References

{{Reflist Queen Anne architecture in Alabama Houses completed in 1907 Houses in Talladega County, Alabama Historic district contributing properties in Alabama National Register of Historic Places in Talladega County, Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama