Bluff Hall
National Register of Historic Places

Bluff Hall

Demopolis, Marengo County, Alabama
Listed
July 27, 1970
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
70000105

About this property

Bluff Hall is a historic residence in Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The original portion of the house is in the Federal style with later additions that altered it to the Greek Revival style. It was documented as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It serves as a historic house museum, with the interior restored to an 1850s appearance. The house was built in 1832 by Allen Glover for his daughter, Sarah Serena Glover, and her husband, Francis Strother Lyon. The house was built by slaves. The Lyons used Bluff Hall as a townhouse; they also owned several outlying plantations. Bluff Hall was one of several homes built atop a limestone cliff overlooking the Tombigbee River, known as White Bluff, on land that Francis Lyon had purchased a few years earlier from the town commissioners of Demopolis. The house was altered in the 1840s with the addition of the two-story front portico and a large rear wing. The new rear wing contained the dining room and kitchen at ground level and two bedrooms on the second floor. This new construction also added the other Greek Revival details. The house remained in the Lyon family until 30 October 1907 when it was sold to A. R. Smith. The Smith family maintained it as a residence into the 1940s, though the upper floors were converted to apartments. The house was sold again in 1948 and continued as apartments. The Marengo County Historical Society purchased the house on 22 March 1967 in order to restore and convert it to a historic house museum. The house is a two-story brick structure, with portions covered by smooth stucco. The front portico features six two-story square columns, constructed in brick with a stucco finish. These columns are very similar to nearby Lyon Hall. The balcony under the portico spans the width of the entrance doors and is supported by wrought iron brackets. The double parlor in the interior features two columns that were an anniversary gift to the Lyons from the Whitfield family. The Whitfields lived nearby at Gaineswood.

Location

405 N. Commissioners Ave.
Demopolis, Marengo County, Alabama
32.51541, -87.83974

Categories

POLITICS/GOVERNMENTARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Lyon-Lamar House
Early Republic
0 mi
Demopolis Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Listed
0.1 mi
Demopolis Historic Business District
Listed
0.2 mi
Confederate Park
Early Republic
0.2 mi
US Post Office
Modern
0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

De Soto – Battle of Mabila Pursuit 1540
1540Colonial
11.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Bluff Hall listed on the National Register?

Bluff Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 27, 1970.

What type of historic resource is Bluff Hall?

Bluff Hall is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Bluff Hall?

The period of significance for Bluff Hall is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1936.

Can I research the history near Bluff Hall?

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