Wilson-Finlay House

Wilson-Finlay House
Nearest city Gainestown, Alabama
Coordinates 31°27′13″N 87°41′28″W / 31.45361°N 87.69111°WCoordinates: 31°27′13″N 87°41′28″W / 31.45361°N 87.69111°W
Area 2.7 acres (1.1 ha)
Built 1846
Architectural style Greek Revival
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference #

78000484

[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP July 12, 1978
Designated ARLH September 17, 1976

The Wilson-Finlay House, also known as Mist Lady, the Joshua Wilson House and the Finlay House, is a historic plantation house in Gainestown, Alabama. It was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on September 17, 1976.[2] It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1978, due to its architectural significance.[1]

History

The house was built circa 1846 for Dr. Joshua Sanford Wilson by Isaac Fuller from Maine.[3] Wilson, born in 1792 in Halifax County, North Carolina, was a physician, planter, and politician. His father, the Reverend Joshua Wilson, settled in Gainestown around 1817. He was a Revolutionary War veteran and Methodist minister.[4]

As of 2011, the house is owned by the Louis M. Finlay, Jr. family. They also maintain the Gainestown Schoolhouse, another National Register-listed property, on the grounds for use as a guest cottage.[5]

Architecture

The two-story Greek Revival-style house is wood-frame with limestone ashlar foundations and front columns, an unusual feature in Alabama. The limestone, with visible marine fossils present, was quarried locally, at the Gainestown Quarry on the Alabama River.[3] The house is rectangular in form and utilizes a central hall-type plan. A central two-tiered Doric portico fronts the structure. A louvered fanlight is centered in the pediment above the portico.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
  2. ↑ "The Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage". preserveala.org. Alabama Historical Commission. April 1, 2013. Archived from the original on April 28, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Historical Markers & Sites in Clarke County". Clarke County Historical Society. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Clarke County MPS". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  5. ↑ Burrage, Joyce White (1998). Clarke County. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing. p. 93 =. ISBN 978-0-7524-0400-4.