Oakleigh is a c. 1833

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

United States 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 ...

. It is the centerpiece of the Oakleigh Historic Complex, a grouping of buildings that contain a working-class raised cottage, Union Barracks, and a modern

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

s building. The name for the estate comes from a combination of the word oak and the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

word lea, which means meadow. The complex is within the

Oakleigh Garden Historic District The Oakleigh Garden Historic District is a historic district in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on 13 April 1972. It is centered on Washington Square and was originally bounded by Gover ...

, the surrounding district and neighborhood being named after the estate.

History

Oakleigh was built on of woodland west of Mobile in 1833 by James W. Roper, a brick mason from

James City County, Virginia James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg. Located ...

who was also a dry goods merchant and

cotton factor In the antebellum and Reconstruction era South, most cotton planters relied on cotton factors (also known as cotton brokers) to sell their crops for them. Description The cotton factor was usually located in an urban center of commerce, such as ...

. He chose this site for his house because of its valuable clay pit. He operated a Water Street

brickyard A brickyard or brickfield is a place or yard where bricks are made, fired, and stored, or sometimes sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed near natural sources of clay or on o ...

in downtown Mobile on the present-day site of the

RSA Battle House Tower The RSA Battle House Tower is located in Mobile, Alabama and is Alabama's tallest building. The building is owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA). It is the tallest on the Gulf Coast of the United States outside Houston. It replaces t ...

. While building Oakleigh, Roper lost his first wife, Sarah Ann Davenport, and a child. He remarried in 1838 upon completion of Oakleigh, and had four children with his second wife, Eliza Ann Simison. The

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...

hit Roper and his business interests hard. After borrowing $20,000 to build the home, he was unable to pay back his loans, and the bank repossessed the home. Roper's brother-in-law, Boyd Simison, bought Oakleigh, half of the estate's acreage, and all but one of Roper's 18 slaves. He then allowed Roper and his family to live in the home rent-free until 1850. With his business interests failing, Roper followed his brother-in-law's example, becoming a lumber merchant and moving to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

in 1850. Alfred Irwin, treasurer of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, purchased the house in 1852. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

his wife, Margaret Kilshaw Irwin, defended the home against Union soldiers by proclaiming the property neutral territory on account of her British citizenship and hanging the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

from the balcony. T.K. and Lee Fearn Irwin, their sons, were both veterans of the Civil War and gained local prominence in the late 19th century. Lee served as Mobile's assistant postmaster, president of the Cherokee Cotton Mills, and manager of the Mobile Oil Mills. His older brother T.K., once aide to Confederate president Jefferson Davis, went on to establish the Mobile Cotton Exchange and later became its president. T.K. married Mary Anna Ketchum. Much of their correspondence from the Civil War years and after remains on file at Oakleigh today. Oakleigh remained in the Irwin family until sold by Daisy Irwin Clisby, granddaughter of Alfred, in 1916.

Architecture

Built as a raised, galleried villa in 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, Oakleigh is one of the largest T-shaped homes in the state of Alabama. The unique shape of the home allows for cross-ventilation in Mobile's humid

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

climate. The lower floor was originally a raised basement, likely built of handmade brick from the site, once functioned as a workspace and storage. The home's second floor contains the main living quarters. The quarter-turn, cantilever staircase rising to the front door was designed by James Roper.

The complex

The Oakleigh Historic Complex also consists of the Union Barracks, the Cox-Deasy Cottage, and the Minnie Mitchell Archives. Visitors are able to view the complex via personally guided tours from Oakleigh Belles and/or docents. *''The Union Barracks'', built in 1867, used to be known as the Cook's House. It has been restored to tell the story of post-Emancipation life in Mobile. It is one of the few surviving structures built during Reconstruction after the Civil War. *The ''Cox-Deasy Cottage'', built in 1850, is a Creole raised cottage now serving as a program space for the Historic Mobile Preservation Society. *''Minnie Mitchell Archives'' houses the archives of the Historic Mobile Preservation Society. The archives house historic maps, surname files,

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...

related files, newspapers and newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and numerous special collections.

References

External links

Historic Mobile Preservation Society
- operates Oakleigh Historic Complex {{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Mobile, Alabama Museums in Mobile, Alabama Historic house museums in Alabama Greek Revival houses in Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Houses in Mobile, Alabama African American Heritage Trail of Mobile