Waverley (West Point, Mississippi)

Waverley

Waverley in 1975
Nearest city West Point, Mississippi
Coordinates 33°34′9″N 88°30′13″W / 33.56917°N 88.50361°W / 33.56917; -88.50361Coordinates: 33°34′9″N 88°30′13″W / 33.56917°N 88.50361°W / 33.56917; -88.50361
Built 1840
Architect Multiple
Architectural style Octagon Mode
NRHP Reference # 73001004
Significant dates
Added to NRHP September 20, 1973[1]
Designated NHL May 30, 1974[2]

Waverley is a mansion, formerly a plantation house and now a historic house museum, in Clay County, Mississippi, ten miles east of West Point. Built in the 1840s, it is architecturally unique among Mississippi's antebellum mansions for its enormous octagonal cupola. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973.[2]

Description

Waverley is located roughly midway between West Point and Columbus, on the northeast side of Waverley Road south of Mississippi Highway 50. It is set overlooking the Tombigbee River on a small portion of the original plantation land. The main house is a basically H-shaped two story structure, with a hip roof from which an oversized octagonal cupola rises another two stories. The building's Greek Revival features include corner pilasters and a dentillated cornice. The interior is richly decorated, with four rooms on each level opening into a central octagonal space. Hanging from the center of the cupola is the original gas-fired chandelier.[3]

History

The antebellum home was originally owned by George Hampton Young, a colonel from Georgia. From its accepted date of completion in 1852, the Waverley Plantation was a self-sustaining community, complete with gardens, orchards and livestock. It maintained a brick kiln, cotton gin, ice house and swimming pool with a bathhouse. Gas for the chandeliers was produced by burning pine knots in a retort. In later years, Waverley had its own lumber mill, leather tannery and hat manufacturing operation. It is believed that the first American-made saddle blankets were produced at Waverley and the first fox hunt association was formed in the mansion's library in 1893. The mansion fell into disrepair following the end of the Young family line in 1913, but was restored by the Robert Snow family beginning in 1962.[4]

The house is open for tours daily.[5]

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Waverley". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  3. ↑ "NHL nomination for Waverley" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
  4. ↑ http://www.wpms.net/waverley_mansion.htm Waverley Mansion. The City of West Point, Mississippi. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  5. ↑ "Waverly Plantation Mansion". The New Southern View. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
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