Magnolia Grove is a historic

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

mansion in

Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, United States. The house was named for the grove of

Southern magnolia ''Magnolia grandiflora'', commonly known as the southern magnolia or bull bay, is a tree of the family Magnoliaceae native to the Southeastern United States, from Virginia to central Florida, and west to East Texas. Reaching in height, it is a ...

s in which it stands. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on April 11, 1973, due to its architectural and historical significance. It now serves as a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as 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 variety of ...

and is operated by the

Alabama Historical Commission The Alabama Historical Commission is the historic preservation agency for the U.S. state of Alabama. The agency was created by an act of the state legislature in 1966 with a mission of safeguarding Alabama's historic buildings and sites. It consi ...

History

Magnolia Grove was built in 1840 for Isaac Croom and his wife, Sarah Pearson Croom. Croom was a lawyer and planter from

Lenoir County, North Carolina Lenoir County ( )Talk Like a Tarheel
, from the North Carolina Co ...

and one of the contributing founders of The University of the South at Sewanee. Sarah was the sister of

Richmond Mumford Pearson Richmond Mumford Pearson (June 28, 1805 – January 5, 1878) was an American jurist who served as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1859 to 1878. He was the father of Congressman Richmond Pearson and the father-in-law of Nor ...

, a prominent pro- Union politician and Chief Justice of the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

. Isaac Croom died in 1863, with Sarah following him in 1878. They left no living children, so the estate passed to Sarah C. Pearson, the daughter of Richmond Mumford Pearson. She married James M. Hobson, also of North Carolina, who eventually served as probate judge of Hale County for over twenty years. The Hobson family moved to Greensboro and raised four sons and three daughters at Magnolia Grove. The Hobsons' most famous offspring was Richmond Pearson Hobson, a

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

hero of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. He was awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

in 1933 for his actions aboard the USS '' Merrimac'' and in 1934, by special act of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, he was advanced to Naval Constructor with a rank of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

. Hobson resigned from active naval duty in 1903 to begin a career as a Democratic

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from Alabama. He served from March 4, 1907, until March 3, 1915, and during that time proposed more than 20 constitutional amendments to ban alcohol. He was denied the Democratic nomination in 1916 to the

65th Congress The 65th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1917, ...

. He then organized the American Alcohol Education Association in 1921, organized the International Narcotic Education Association in 1923, organized the World Conference on Narcotic Education in 1926, and founded the World Narcotic Defense Association in 1927. These activities have caused some to label him the "Father of

American Prohibition The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...

". On January 22, 1942, the ''Gleaves''-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

USS '' Hobson'', was commissioned in his honor posthumously. Magnolia Grove was dedicated as a state shrine in his honor on May 1, 1947.

Architecture

Magnolia Grove is a relatively rare Alabama example of a full-scale

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

-form house in the Greek Revival style. It is a two-story masonry structure, built in handmade brick. The front facade is

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed, including the pediment. The sides and rear are left with the brick face exposed. The front facade features a monumental hexastyle

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 cu ...

with Doric columns. These support a plain

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

with a simple molding dividing the

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

and

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

. Above a simple

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

, the unadorned

is framed by horizontal and raking

geison Geison ({{langx, grc, γεῖσον – often interchangeable with somewhat broader term cornice) is an architectural term of relevance particularly to ancient Greek and Roman buildings, as well as archaeological publications of the same. The ...

s. Behind the portico, the building is divided into a five

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

facade. The central bay is occupied by doorways on both floors, with simply molded windows occupying the remaining bays to either side. Both door surrounds are Greek Revival, these are inset with double doors, surrounded by sidelights and topped by a transom. The upper doorway opens onto a

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

ed balcony. The lower windows are floor-to-ceiling and open onto the portico, while the upper windows are six-over-six. The rear of the building also has a two-story portico, but here it is supported by six slender cast-iron columns. The interior features plaster cornice moldings and Greek Revival door and window surrounds. Both floors are evenly divided by a central hall running from front to back. The first floor contains a parlor, living room, dining room, and study. A separate two-story brick building to the rear of the main house contained the original kitchen and servant's quarters. A cantilevered staircase with

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

treads and railing climbs from the rear of the hall to the second floor. This level contains a central hall and four bedrooms.

Gallery

References

External links

* - official site at Alabama Historical Commission {{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Hale County, Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Houses completed in 1840 Greek Revival houses in Alabama Historic house museums in Alabama Museums in Hale County, Alabama Alabama State Historic Sites Houses in Hale County, Alabama 1840 establishments in Alabama Greensboro, Alabama

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References

External links