Edmund King House, Highland & Bloch Streets, Montevallo

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ALA,59-MONVA,2-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

. This two storey brick residence was built more in the pure colonial tradition than in the Greek Revival style. The quarter-round watertable brick on front fa- cade and chimney, the first floor windows with upper sash larger than lower, the smaller panes in the second floor windows, the low door under the stair landing, and the mantel with the reeded pilasters indicate a strong colonial influence perhaps from the Virginia country. . Its early date strengthens these indi- cations.. (Revised and rewritten at HABS Headquarters, Feb. 19, - ./ # ADDENDUM TO HAM^ nlo . At. EDMUND KING HOUSE ( Urii.versi.

ty of Mori teva 11 Guest -iQUSE1 } BI r fi*ingn.am Industrial Di Highland & BLoch She 1 by Court ty A 1abama PHOTOGRftPHS HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY Mational Park Service DE?PS*" *t.TiETi t o"i" t His1 I n t~ i or Box Washington, DC 127 ADDENDUM TO :D>U]MD KING flDUSr HABS No. AL-438 -' Li; \ ; ver i r y of ilon t eva J I o Gue^-. t House- ) ri.i? ;T; i r-.griarr: 'ndiistr tal Distt" i r:t Mi :j\-i\ ,:a\'J & Blorh Streets '"V?i ; i-l X I O ALA 3' i^- 1 .: ' -.V'our* T V ; ^tahriiTia <5- .N HMHnRTC'PiL & ].:EHrRI P'r "i DA"! A AMERICAN Bull SURVEY M at [onal P a r k S e r' v i;: e Depi-u- tfnent the Inl-prioi- P.O. Box Washington , DC 2A01 ULA ADDENDUM TO EDMUND KING HOUSE (University of Montevallo Guest House) HABS No.

AL-438 (Page 3) HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY EDMUND KING HOUSE (University of Montevallo Guest House) This report is an addendum to a 2 page report previously transmitted to the Library of Congress.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ALA,59-MONVA,2-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

NW Corner Highland and Bloch University of Montevallo Campus, Monteva1 lo, Shelby County, Alabama. To reach Montevallo, take I 65 23 miles south of Birmingham to the Calera exit at Shelby County 25. Proceed west on Shelby County 25 to the intersection with Shelby County Right on Shelby County 119 one-half mile to the community whose commercial center flanks this road. Turn left at Vine St. and proceed two blocks to the University of Montevallo campus.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ALA,59-MONVA,2-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

This report is based upon written documentation donated by the Birmingham Historical Society, reformatted to HABS/HAER guidelines. Description: The original two-story brick residence with two exterior end chimneys, gamble roof and center-hall plan includes a three-story bay porch with scroll-cut balustrade, a one-story ell, and rear porch dating to the turn of the century. In the mid-19th century, the exterior was stuccoed and scored to look like stone. A reconditioning for use as the university guest house removed the external stucco and reconstructed some interior spaces using original woodwork. The house sits on extensive grounds within the University of Montevallo campus. The King Family Cemetery is nearby. EDMUND KING HOUSE HABS No. AL-438 (Page 4)

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ALA,59-MONVA,2-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

This substantial brick house is associated with Edmund King, a planter and businessman who financed the earliest ironworks in the District. Edmund King was involved in the Thompson's Mill Forge on Shoal Creek near Montevallo. The primary remaining structure associated with King, the house represents the divergent economic outlook of the planter class in Alabama.

Historical Overview

Edmund King, the Montevallo area's most extensive planter, started the District's earliest known ironworks c. King, the fifth child of his father's third marriage, was born in in Virginia and reared in Griffin County, Georgia. In with Indians as guides. King brought his family in two covered wagons to a place called Wilson Hill, later Montevallo. (Wilson, one of Andrew Jackson's soldiers, was the owner of the hill, claimed to be located at the exact center of the state.) In the area were many fine springs, nut-bearing trees and Shoal Creek, a tributary of the Cahaba River. King prospered as a merchant, planter and financier of Thompson's Mill Forge.

King also ran a grist mill at the site which was later called "Valley Forge." Located two and one-half miles from Montevallo, the water powered forge, contiguous to area coal formations and the Alabama and Tennessee Rivers Railroad, manufactured "a superior article of bar iron" and due to its favorable location did an extensive business. In King erected a fine residence, the first brick structure built in Shelby County. Known as the "Mansion House," the two-story plantation- made brick (later stuccoed and scored to look like stone) residence served the King, Shortridge (King's daughter married George Shortridge), and later French Nabors families.

Deeded by the Nabors to the Alabama Girls' Industrial School, later Alabama College and the University of Montevallo, it has served as Infirmary, Home Economics Building, classroom and guest cottage for these educational institutions. EDMUND KING HOUSE HABS No. AL-438 (Page 5) Sources Consulted Armes, Ethel, The Storv of Coal and Iron in Alabama, p. 71 Shortridge, George, Letter to Blue, September 15, Matthew P. Blue Papers, Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery. This letter written by King's son-in-law describes operation of Thompson's Mill-Valley Forge which Shortridge operated after King's death. Everse, Martin, The Ironworks at Brierfield - A History of Ironmakinq in Bibb County, Alabama, p.

12 Griffith, Lucille, History of Alabama Colleges, Montevallo, Alabama, Meroney, Eloise, Montevallo: The First One Hundred Years: Montevallo, Alabama, Gamb 1 e, Robert, The Alabama Catalog - A Guide to the Early Architecture of the State, p. 341 HABS, photos data pages National Register, Alabama Members of the National League of American Pen Women, Historic Homes of Alabama and Their Traditions. pp. 255 Site Visits,