Petty-Roberts-Beatty House
National Register of Historic Places

Petty-Roberts-Beatty House

Clayton, Barbour County, Alabama
Listed
January 21, 1974
Type
Building
Period
Early Republic
Ref No.
74000400

About this property

The Petty–Roberts–Beatty House, also known as the Octagon House, is an historic octagonal house in Clayton, Alabama, United States. The structure was one of only two antebellum octagonal houses built in Alabama and is the only one to survive. This unusual house was built by Benjamin Franklin Petty starting in 1859 and completed in 1861. Petty was a carriage and furniture merchant who was a native of New York and pioneer settler of Clayton. The house was patterned after a design made popular by Orson Squire Fowler's book, A Home For All, or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building which was published in 1854. In April 1865, the house was used as staff headquarters for Union Cavalry Commander General Benjamin H. Grierson. Petty's heirs sold the property to Judge and Mrs. Bob T. Roberts in 1901. In 1981, under the administration of Mayor Edward C. Ventress, the property was purchased from the estate of Mary Roberts Beatty Armistead by the Town of Clayton which has overseen its renovation. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 21, 1974.

Location

103 N. Midway
Clayton, Barbour County, Alabama
31.87876, -85.44940

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
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

Grace Episcopal Church
Civil War
0.1 mi
Miller-Martin Town House
Early Republic
0.3 mi
Clayton, Henry D., House
Industrial
0.9 mi
Fendall Hall
Early Republic
1.7 mi
Merritt School
Industrial
14.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was Petty-Roberts-Beatty House listed on the National Register?

Petty-Roberts-Beatty House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 21, 1974.

What type of historic resource is Petty-Roberts-Beatty House?

Petty-Roberts-Beatty House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Petty-Roberts-Beatty House?

The period of significance for Petty-Roberts-Beatty House is recorded as the early_republic era, specifically around 1859.

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