Gone With The Wind.......

Last Friday my mama and I took a little day trip to Lowndes County, Alabama where my grandparents settled after their retirement in the 1940's. Two of their sons were in the military in Montgomery so they moved a little further south to Lowndes County, Alabama.

Lowndes County is smack dab in the middle of the Black Belt. The most prominent community in Lowndes County is Lowndesboro, where I grew up and went to school for many years. There were some beautiful antebellum homes built in Lowndesboro back in its "hey day" and while many of the homes and churches still survive, sadly many of them have fallen into disrepair over the years.

The first home you see as you come around the bend in Lowndesboro is this stately home. Built in the Greek Revival style, it is what many people consider a true antebellum home. It underwent a significant restoration in the 1960's but now it appears the owners have not kept it in the style to which it had become accustomed.

You can almost picture Scarlett O'Hara running down the driveway holding up her hoopskirts

This is the Methodist parsonage

The local cemetery. Some of the earliest settlers in Lowndesboro are buried here

We counted more than 6 churches built along a less than 3 mile drive!

The dome on the church below once sat atop the first capital of Alabama located at Cahawba, Alabama. Cahawba is found near Selma, Alabama. Due to Cahawba being situated on the Alabama River, it was subject to flooding so eventually the capital was relocated to Montgomery. I wish I knew how this church acquired the original dome.

Marengo is a home that has been beautifully restored and maintained. It is now used to host special events but when I was in school, the children of the family that lived there went to school with me. As a matter of fact, I had a crush on one of the sons and remember being invited to Marengo!

Looking down the driveway leading to Marengo

The original home was dismantled and brought over on the Alabama River to its current location

This is a new home built to look old

This aging beauty belonged to a doctor and his decendants still live there. It appears that it, too, has seen better days

Front entrance to the above home

Now we'll leave Lowndesboro and head down the road a piece (as we say here in the south) to where my grandparents lived.

As you can see from the sign on the church, the original structure was built in 1840 and burned on March 18, 1967. This was at the height of the civil rights movement. During that time, many churches were burned. I distinctly remember the night this church burned. It seemed our whole community stood by helplessly as it was completely destroyed.

Here is the church as it appears today


Just a stone's throw from the Presbyterian church was the home of my grandparents. My grandmother passed away in 1969 but my grandfather and bachelor uncle stayed on at the homeplace until approximately 1971 when they moved back to North Carolina. When the place was sold, the new owners changed many things about the home, both inside and out. My grandmother spent many hours, and many years, making the grounds a showplace. Sadly, all of her hard work is no longer evident. This roofline is basically the only thing left of the time my grandparents lived here. I spent many hours on the front porch, rocking, shelling peas, and taking naps on the metal glider that was outfitted with soft cushions!

The home as it appears today. My grandmother had a beautiful pathway lined with "thrift", and the grounds were wonderfully landscaped. There was a large tree in the yard where my uncle hung a wooden swing. All the grandchildren loved to swing on that old wooden swing!

This white fence was not part of the original yard but has been installed by the present owners

My uncle planted this tree over 50 years ago.

I had an encounter with a rattlesnake right at the base of this old tree! Luckily for me, my dog saw it and started growling and barking and when I saw that snake, I ran for my life!!!

My mama and daddy got married standing right here in front of the fireplace in the formal dining room on January 11, 1946. Walls have been torn down to combine two rooms so it really looks nothing like it did when my grandparents lived here. Here's mama posing at the same spot she stood in all those years ago (no big screen tv's then either).

I hope you enjoyed this little trip with me and enjoyed seeing My South!