Thornhill
About this property
Thornhill is a historic plantation near Forkland, Alabama, United States. The Greek Revival main house was built in 1833 by James Innes Thornton. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 10, 1984. James Innes Thornton was born October 28, 1800, at the Thornton family plantation known as Fall Hill, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was educated at Washington and Lee University and then emigrated to Huntsville, Alabama. He began to practice law there in 1820. He was elected as Alabama's third secretary of state in 1824 and remained in that position until 1834. After this he retired from public life and became a planter in Greene County. Thornton married Mary Amelia Glover in 1825, daughter of Allen and Sarah Norwood Glover of Demopolis. They had two children. Her brother, Williamson Allen Glover, developed the neighboring plantation known as Rosemount. Mary died after only a few years. In 1831, Thornton remarried Anne Amelia Smith of Dumfries, Virginia. Anne died in 1864. He then remarried in 1870 for a third and final time to Mrs. Sarah Williams Gould Gowdy, daughter of William Proctor and Eliza Chotard Gould of the Hill of Howth in Boligee. Thornton died at Thornhill on September 13, 1877. Regarding the Thornton connection to George Washington, Mildred Washington Gregory, George Washington's paternal aunt and godmother, had three daughters who married three Thornton brothers. Mildred Gregory's daughter Frances (circ. 1720–1790)(first cousin of George Washington) married Col. Francis Thornton III (circ. 1711–1748) of Fall Hill. They were the great-grandparents of James Innes Thornton. Thornhill was developed by Thornton as a cotton plantation in the late 1820s-early 1830s and extended over 2,600 acres (11 km2). It later grew to over 5,000 acres and is currently 2,000 acres. According to the diary of Josiah Gorgas, in talking with Thornton at Thornhill on Tuesday, June 6, 1865, less than two months after the end of the Civil War, Thornton "oppos(ed) ... the doctrine of secession and necessary deduction that we fought so valiantly (in the War) and bled so freely in a cause radically wrong." William Nichols is believed to be the architect of the main house at Thornhill, hired in 1832 by Thornton. Nichols was made the state architect of Alabama in 1827. He is known for designing the original campus of the University of Alabama and now-destroyed Alabama State Capitol building at Tuscaloosa and the former Mississippi State Capitol building in Jackson, Mississippi. He is also believed to be the original architect of Rosemount, neighbor to Thornhill. Thornton served as Alabama's secretary of state from 1824 to 1834 and would have been very aware of Nichols and his work. The main house at Thornhill was completed by 1833. The monumental two-story portico with six Ionic columns was added circa 1850. David Rinehart Anthony, of Eutaw, is believed to be the builder who made the portico addition and second story balcony (crisscrossed lattice railing). The house measures 55 feet (17 m) wide. Inside is a 14 ft (4.3 m) wide by 40 ft (12 m) long central hall with a fine spiral staircase at the back. There are two rooms to either side. The left front room was the parlor, with the dining room behind it. On the front right was the master bedroom with the plantation office behind it. Upstairs is a matching hall and four bedrooms. All eight rooms are 19.5 feet (5.9 m) square. The downstairs rooms have 12-foot (3.7 m) ceilings. The upstairs ceilings are 11 feet (3.4 m).
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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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Questions about this property
When was Thornhill listed on the National Register?
Thornhill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1984.
What type of historic resource is Thornhill?
Thornhill is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Thornhill?
The period of significance for Thornhill is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Thornhill?
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