Alabama, Lee County, Auburn
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(Side 1)
Near this site once stood "Four-Story Cottage," the home of Robert Wilton Burton. A one-story house with wide porch and bay window, Burton built it in 1885 with proceeds from the sale of four stories to children's magazines. Born in Camden County, Georgia, Burton grew up in Lafayette, Alabama, where he began writing stories for the newspaper, on various subjects. In the early 1870’s, with his brother, he opened a bookstore in Opelika, Alabama. In 1878, at the request of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, Burton opened the first bookstore in Auburn. It was soon known as the "Coffee House of the College City."
(Side 2)
Burton wrote numerous local color stories for national magazines and newspapers. Many of his best tales, in Negro dialect, feature "Marengo Jake" Mitchell, a former slave in Auburn known for his tall tales. In 1991, these stories were published as De Remnant Truth. An active Presbyterian, Burton also served as Secretary of the Town Board of Education, County School Superintendent, Clerk of the Town Council, and Secretary to the College Board of Trustees. His bookstore was sold in 1968; his home dismantled in 1993.
(African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Education) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
(Side 1)
Near this site once stood "Four-Story Cottage," the home of Robert Wilton Burton. A one-story house with wide porch and bay window, Burton built it in 1885 with proceeds from the sale of four stories to children's magazines. Born in Camden County, Georgia, Burton grew up in Lafayette, Alabama, where he began writing stories for the newspaper, on various subjects. In the early 1870’s, with his brother, he opened a bookstore in Opelika, Alabama. In 1878, at the request of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, Burton opened the first bookstore in Auburn. It was soon known as the "Coffee House of the College City."
(Side 2)
Burton wrote numerous local color stories for national magazines and newspapers. Many of his best tales, in Negro dialect, feature "Marengo Jake" Mitchell, a former slave in Auburn known for his tall tales. In 1991, these stories were published as De Remnant Truth. An active Presbyterian, Burton also served as Secretary of the Town Board of Education, County School Superintendent, Clerk of the Town Council, and Secretary to the College Board of Trustees. His bookstore was sold in 1968; his home dismantled in 1993.
(African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Education) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
In 1836 Judge John Harper with 34 other Methodists from Harris County, Georgia settled here. They built a log structure on this site, the first church and school in Auburn. In 1856 church leaders inspired the Methodist Conference to open East Alabama Male College. It later became a state institution and named Auburn University in 1960. In 1899 this building was encased in brick and the pipe organ installed. It became a fellowship hall when the sanctuary was built in 1955. In 1992 it was restored and named Founder's Chapel.
Designed by William Dryden Baughman and built by Fred Burk in 1929, the house was not finished due to the Great Depression. Because of its two-story turret and French Norman Style, it became known as "The Castle." In 1949, the home was sold to architect Wilfred M. Honour. In 1996, Warren and Mary Ann Stiles purchased it and restored the original heart pine wood floors, gothic archways, wrought iron fixtures and French millwork. They completed the unfinished tower room and the entire second story.
Built by Auburn merchant A.L. Dillard in 1894, the home was once part of the old Scott Plantation. It was one of the first homes in Auburn to have an indoor bath and electricity. An unusual feature of the house is the gray stone, for which Dillard invented a secret formula to make it moisture proof. Mrs. Dillard and her daughter were the first registered women voters in Lee County. In 1925, Sigma Pi Fraternity was chartered here. The James L. Lawson family owned the house from 1939-1984. It was home to Mabel Yearby, the first woman defense lawyer in Alabama. In 1984 the house was sold to business interests.
At the Auburn train depot on February 16, 1861, Jefferson Davis reviewed the Auburn Guards, the first Confederate military company thus honored. Davis was en route to his inauguration as President of the Confederacy. The Auburn Guards were comprised of cadets of the East Alabama Male College (now Auburn University). Forty-two members of the Guards went by rail from Montgomery to Pensacola on January 16, 1861, under orders from Alabama Governor Moore, to fortify the fort there. The officers of the Auburn Guards were as follows: George W. Dixon, Captain; Wm. F. Stanton, 1st Lieutenant; F. G. McElhany, 2nd Lieutenant; J. H. Echols, 3rd Lieutenant.
Oak Grove (ca. 1790-1910) was a 1,693-acre grain farm owned by the Holt family. The Holts were pioneers in the southern textile industry and developers of "Alamance Plaid" fabrics. While textiles made the Holts one of the wealthiest families in North Carolina, their initial prosperity was agriculturally based, supported by the slave economy of the pre-industrial South.
1693 acre grain plantation founded by Michael Holt III (1778-1842). Birthplace of E.M. Holt (1807-1884), a founder of the southern textile industry and developer of "Alamance Plaid" fabrics. Dr. William Rainey Holt (1798-1868), noted "scientific agriculturalist," and N.C. Governor Thomas M. Holt (1831-1896) also born here. Oak Grove Stock Farm established on this site in the 1880s by Lynn Banks Holt (1842-1920). Former slave Caswell Holt (b. 1834) named first black deputy in Reconstruction Alamance County. His brother, Sam Holt (1837-1912), founded nearby Springdale Church and Academy for newly emancipated former slaves.
On the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan, Baileys Harbor was the first established village on the Door Peninsula. In 1848, Captain Justice Bailey was seeking refuge from a ferocious storm and came ashore in the sheltered harbor. Discovering abundant resources of limestone, pine, maple, and beech trees, Captain Bailey reported his find. Within the year, a small work force established a logging and mining industry beginning the long maritime history of Baileys Harbor.
The last of a dozen mills that dotted Mill River during the 18th and 19th century. Kingsley Grist Mill stands just upstream of the 1870 Town lattice truss covered bridge.
On September 12, 1886 a group of golfers, principally from Troy and New York City, who summered in Dorset, laid out a nine hole golf course, then known as The Dorset Golf Links on this present site. The Club's first president and principal architect was A. W. Harrington, Jr. The other founding members were: Allen Bourne, Richard M. Campbell, James C. Chapin, Ransom H. Gillett, Joe H. Harrington, George B. Harrison, Fred S. Hawley, S. Frank Holley, W. E. Kent, Edwin Q. Lasell, O. P. Liscomb, George Lewis Prentiss and Henry S. Woodruff. The Dorset Field Club constructed a Fieldhouse in 1896 and it was named "Woodruff Hall" in honor of one of the founders. It is preserved as the dining room area of the present clubhouse.
(Continued on other side.)
Built of stone from Fort Blunder was house of worship for Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterians
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