Architectural Styles of Homes
in and around Bibb County

including memories contributed by our researchers

Houses Saved by Jack Crouch

"Joel Lowery" house built in the 1880's, approximately 10 miles northeast of Centreville in the Riverbend Community

"James T. Dunkin" house, built in 1889, northeast part of Perry County

"Mark Jackson" house from Coosa County

Source: "These are the Houses that Jack Saved" by Elma Bell, Birmingham News, April 25, 1994.

Submitted by Melissa Hogan

My g-g-grandfather was "the best carpenter in this area" in 1850 and built numerous houses for people. One that is still standing had a "dog-trot" in the middle. He walked eight miles each morning to the building site, worked all day and walked the eight miles back home in the evening. This house was built for the preacher in their community. The kitchen and dining area was on one side and the sitting area and master bedroom on the other. The open porch between the areas created a draft that pulled fresh, cooling air through. Windows were placed in strategic spots to further ventilate the rooms. This particular house had dormer rooms upstairs. There were six bedrooms upstairs which were ventilated strategically also. The 3 feet tall baseboards along the dog-trot porch were made from a wooden slab cut from the heart of the large oak trees. To get to the upstairs bedrooms, the children had to climb stairs with entrance from the dog-trot porch. This house has been restored and the g-g-grandson of the minister lives there at present.

These elaborate homes were quite different from the "shot-gun" houses.

About 15 miles from my home town there was a sawmill town. One wealthy man had dozens of the shot-gun houses built for housing laborers at the sawmill. They were very narrow and long and were built really close together in order to have as many available as necessary to house the workers. I imagine they served the same purpose as mobile homes or "trailer-houses" do now.

I enjoyed reading all the comments about these houses. Thanks. Martha

This Page Was Last Updated Monday, 17-Mar-2008 23:57:51 CDT

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