Strawberry Hill Plantation, U.S. Route 43, Forkland

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ALA,32-FORK.V,2-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Minnie Webb & John oolce. Previoas Owners; jffilliam Walton. Pate of Erection: JA&CT ,m (U <L . Architect; Unknown f Baiiaer: Will^aJLm jffaXton, Present Condition; Good. Somber of Stories; Two, Materials of ftoastratftiont 2?wo story frame; hand hewn m ana. morticed construction. Qthe r Existing Beo or&s: See: "HISTORIC HOMES Off ALABAMA AHg EHBIR TBAHITIQ3JS" By Alabama members, Rational League of American Pen Women. RHADV fl pp^ptfri HA8S ALA 'hi - FoftHW Z- AE.A-* 271 Page 2. Additional Data: thirteen miles south of Eutaw ~ on the State road leading to Demopolis, lies Strawberry Hill, the ante-bellum home of the Walton and Webb families.

In support of the venerable age of this Southern Bstate, the original land grant shows the date of the year and "bears the signature of president Monroe, with the &reat Seal of the United States of America* She house, surrounded by wide acreage, was built by William Walton, from Georgia, in and for more than a hundred years has gathered - to itself the charm of romance and historical interest.

Within its walla hare lived, and passed, men ana women - whose lives interwoven with the two greatest epochs of our country's history * the Revolutionary and War Between the States, William Walton, the founder of Strawberry Hill, was the young brother of George Walton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence* His own service to his ^country was in the active capacity of an offieer on General Washington's staff, and as such he is pictured holding the flag in the * well Known painting?

"Washington Crossing the Delaware*', ontinel Congress gave-land grants to many of its Revolutionary officers, and William Walton - after his marr ge - took up several thousand acres* As his children married, he bestowed upon them portions of the plantation, until now the original holdings surrounding the house has been diminished to about one thousand acres; leaving the bordering plantations all in the ownership of kinsmen. Strawberry Hill was named for the Walpole estate and home of Horace Walpole in England- the Walpoles j being connected by marrgjge with the families of both William Walton and his wife* j Of hand hewn and morticed construction, the house is appealing in its simplicity of design and beauty of proportion.

Even the materials which went into its erection ] hold much of interest. 0?he timber used was cut from virgin *ar 1 trees on the surrounding acreage, and hand hewn by,slave labor; \ bricks for foundations and chimneys were made on the place; | nails and iron work were imported from England,, arriving via Mobile, As one looks at the house through the pathway flanked ) on iither side by boxwood planted a century ago, it seems a \ small building-* dwarfed by the gigantic trees of its setting. AU 2- ALA- 271 Page 3. Additional Data; (continued) But on entering, one is impressed with the spaciousness of its interior, Two rooms, each twenty feet square, open from a central kail - this in turn leading into a cross-hall fifteen wide and extending the width of the house.

lonneeting with the central hall is a wing composed of a - dining room, commodious pantries, and kitchen, with a hack porch of generous proportions. On the second floor are two immense bedsrooms, with a connecting hall twenty feet square. During the War Between the States, all the women of the family refogeed at Strawberry Hill, as it was off the path of the invading federal soldiers under General Butler. ; Strawberry Hill has sheltered people of illustrious names, "both as Ipaatss and guests. It has also been the scene of many social activities. Source of Material; Hatalie . Goofce, Eutaw, Alabama* Uw'...j ii^_J l"i *\ ">i H ,'t s/ .?3 is*.*^' [far : - Compiled by; Katherine j^loyd. Auburn, Alabama* Approved; . Walter Burfchardt, A. P. I* Auburn, Alabama. Dates