Four bedrooms surround the rear or south courtyard, forming its U-shaped brick exterior. Multiple north Alabama organizations are demanding an apology after a Christmas event was held at a Colbert County plantation mansion where enslaved people once labored.
This style stems from the neoclassical architectural design of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Catholics in the 19th century suffered violent assaults at the hands of anti-papist mobs on the streets of Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. Just outside the city of Tuscumbia, the 700+ acre Cane Creek Canyon Nature . This is not to say there isnt something a bit discomforting about vendors labeling slave cabins on these properties as evoking an elaborate past, as if blacks were happy, willing participants in a fanciful world of white gentry as portrayed in Gone with the Wind. All the same, targeting Southern wedding venues for bigotry reflects yet another manifestation of a purification of our culture and history. The modern application of this practice is also redolent of any of those ancient heresies that are uncomfortable with the complicated reality that vice and virtue, spiritual and material, co-exist within the human experience. In a letter sent to multiple Alabama Historical Commission officials Tuesday night, the coalition demanded an apology as well as a promise to no longer hold events supporting tours and events that "deny the brutality of the past." A variety of factors have made researching the lives of Belmont's enslaved residents difficult. The source of Belle Monts design is shrouded in mystery, but tantalizing clues suggest the direct influence of President Thomas Jefferson, gentlemen architect of the early Republic, the official Belle Mont pamphlet states (Commission 2). Me and a group of Freinds went out there one night and we first get there we get out the car and walking up the hill to the house and I get a snapchat (popular app used by teens) from someone I dont even got added and he said Im behind you then he sent another one and said I know where you are and I sent a snap and said where am I the. Administrative use only. What Todays Cultural Marxists Would Be Wise To Learn From Martin Luther King Jr. This mansion is believed to have been influenced by Palladian style architecture for which Thomas Jefferson is known. Home > Historical Buildings > Belle Mont Mansion A former slave plantation, it is believed to be haunted by slaves that lived and died here and also possibly by the ghosts of its former owners. Forts, Battlefields & Archaeological Sites, Alabama Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program, Documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Montgomery, Pond Spring, the General Joe Wheeler Home, To apply for film/photo permit, please send requests to. Nanyehi was among the first Cherokee to own African-American slaves. Gradually, the family gatherings became less frequent until the home was completely abandoned.The abandonment of the home was the largest cause of its deterioration and the vandalism that occurred at Belle Mont. The only way to avoid offending anyone would be to stop celebrating anything, anywhere, at any time. Tell Us About Your Experience(s) at Belle Mont. Plantations used for bourgeois ceremonies with language that obscures or even glorifies the estates dark past are one example. The Belle Mont Mansion in Tuscumbia Alabama was built around 1828 for physician and planter Alexander Williams Mitchell. It once stretched over 5400 acres and hosted celebrities, presidents, and countless southern gentlemen. Belle Mont was built for Alexander Williams Mitchell, who grew up in Louisa County, Virginia, only 25 miles from Jefferson's home at Monticello. Belle Meade plantation is one of the premier plantations in Tennessee and one of the top attractions in the state. Visiting here is an opportunity to explore one of the few 1850s era homes still standing in Nashville while learning about the place and the people -- both free and enslaved -- who make this site worth understanding. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends. Belmont Mansion, also known as Acklen Hall, and originally known as Belle Monte, Belle Mont or Belmont, is a historic mansion located in Nashville, Tennessee. The site originally served as the centerpiece for the large scale cotton. Owning 1,680 acres of cotton and corn, Dr. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. Do not use all capital letters. Slave child's doll inside Belle Mont Mansion. The letter was signed by social justice groups Project Say Something, Standing in Power, of Decatur, and Beyond the Women's March. Off Campus Book Store University of North Alabama, Norton Auditorium University of North Alabama. One account is from young William Acklin, a enslaved worker, and the other from a visitor to the estate. The historic home is the site of the annual Art of the Dish this week. Gradually, the family gatherings became less frequent until the home was completely abandoned. Will we need Google to warn us that searching for such places or even worse, planning a vacation to visit them are microaggressive acts, as if we are unable to contemplate both the good and bad of such places? Officials from multiple wedding-planning websites recently announced they are either no longer advertising plantation wedding venues or making those venues harder to find on their websites. Founded in 2008, AlabamaHauntedHouses.com is a simple and unique online haunted event & attraction resource created to make it easy for locals to find Haunted House, Spook Walk, Corn Maze, and other Halloween Attractions in their local area. Sign up for our newsletter and receive Halloween event updates, discounts and more! Located in the heart of Nashville on the Belmont University Campus. As of Thursday morning, Alabama Historical Commission members have not responded to the letter or AL.coms emails and phone calls. Shes told me that prior to the restorations the mansion was a prime site for local teens to be dumb kids trespass, vandalize, etc. Records of the property's destruction includes information related to the number of slave dwellings on the property. The architecture of Belmont Mansion makes it one of the most significant homes of 19th century Tennessee. Ninon Parker puts candles out on the table fully set for dinner at Belle Mont Mansion in Colbert County. Plantations represent none of those things, declared a Pinterest spokesman, calling the glamorization of these estates a disrespectful practice. Pinterest visitors who search for plantation weddings or similar terms will now be warned that some results may violate the sites policies, de facto making plantations the equivalent of pornography. I was born and raised in Tuscumbia. As there is not formal cemetery for the slaves it is likely that they were buried on some part of the estate. n 1832. Stories of the Past - Conversations for the Future. All rights reserved. A variety of factors have made researching the lives of Belmont's enslaved residents difficult. Then they could celebrate their wedding reception at a Southern manor and have a hell of a good time. The article included a large photo of an interior shot of the mansion with my great aunts name first and last blazoned across the room in graffiti! Built between 1828 and 1832 in the Jeffersonian style, Belle Mont was originally the home of Dr. Alexander Mitchell, who quickly sold the building to one Isaac Winston in 1833. So I like have some family history about the mansion and my aunt found a man and fell in love with him and they both LOVE history and so they both had there wedding at the Belle mont mansion and I was the flower girl and I havent seen the upstairs of the mansion so Im not sure if it really is haunted I really want to find out more the reason why I started searching this up was bc my great aunt works at my school library and she started talking about it and reading us storys about it. The Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville hired a black historian to research the site's enslavement history and to offer tours so visitors can learn about the African Americans who were enslaved on the property. Haunted Vacations, Adventures and Mysteries. Its important the reality of what happened in these spaces is present, versus a romanticization of human rights abuses.. It is said to be haunted by slaves who died on the grounds and also by former owners. . The voices in the night are the hardest to explain away. Moreover, the entire. When i was 17 years old, Belle Mont Plantation house was in very bad shape and had not had any restoration done to it yet. Disclaimer: Alabama Haunted Houses does not endorse or support trespassing to visit real haunts. She said that at times, she, and others, would smell a floral scent like a womans perfume and get a cold feeling for no reason as if in the presence of a ghost. The house is listed on the National Historic Registry (#19820223). And in the process, these attacks have unintended economic consequences on working-class Americans. Come to Belle Mont to learn more about Palladian architecture and to see first-hand the tantalizing clues suggesting the direct influence of Thomas Jefferson himself. Violence against blacks and other disenfranchised groups have occurred across our nation's landscape, many in popular and well-trod locales, North and South, East and West. Many of them, even their detractors must admit, are beautiful, both in reference to their natural surroundings and their architecture. 10 years later, I relayed the story for the first time to him the day my wife and I decided to visit the place and asked him if he would like to go see the man he saw that night. he respectfully declined. Gift Shop (111 S. Main St., Tuscumbia). Owning 1,680 acres of cotton and corn, Dr. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. The tell when I was growing up was that the book 13 Alabama Ghosts held a tell from that house. Moreover, are the perpetrators of our historical-cultural cleansing so naive to think their children and grandchildren wont do the same thing to them, who have fostered and encouraged a paradigm of national seppuku? At this time, the family decided to move to a different location but continued to hold Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations in the mansion. It was built by Joseph and Adelicia Acklen to serve as the center of their 180-acre summer estate in what was then country outside the city, and featured elaborate gardens and a zoo. Ticket options include: General Admission, Guided Tour, Curator Tour & Civil War at Belmont. Dr. Mitchell and his family of seven were already living in Belle Mont when it was fully completed in 1832. Would like to know if anyone does know anything about it and any info in accordance with that reference. Violence against blacks and other disenfranchised groups have occurred across our nations landscape, many in popular and well-trod locales, North and South, East and West. Belle Mont is located south of Tuscumbia in Colbert Couty in northwest Alabama. Belle Mont Mansion has been listed under several names through its history. One night while we were both watching TV in the den with the lights off, we both saw two colored orbs gliding through the room from the back door toward the closet, then they disappeared. However, the pamphlet continues by claiming that, characteristics of Jeffersonian Classicism are exhibited at Belle Mont, including finely executed brickwork with contrasting woodwork and a hilltop setting. In 1790, John Hipkins purchased the property from the Conway family and in 1791 built Belle Grove for his only child, Fannie. It was the centerpiece of a 1,760 acre cotton plantation and had one of the largest slave populations in the state. Its two-story north entrance salon is flanked on either side by a formal dining room and parlor. The site is 1/4 mile west of US 43 South on Cook Lane, three miles south of intersection US 43 and US 72. Group rates available. Your email address will not be published. If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know! "While the holidays brought a brief respite from work, many enslaved people took the opportunity to escape the bondage of the plantation," the letter said. Positioned on a commanding hilltop, Belle Mont Mansion is one of Alabama's crowning architectural achievements. It was then purchased by two women who in 1890 started a college which evolved into Belmont University. e prior to the Civil War. I came out of the cellar and saw Ronnie sitting in my truck, so I asked if he had came into the cellar, he told me no. Isaac Winston owned 114 slaves according to the 1860 census and died August 13, 1863 at Bell Mont during the American Civil War. Constructed in the 1820s, Belle Mont fell into ruin until the Alabama Historical Commission rescued it in the 1980s. Protest movements that perceive victimization and microaggression under every rock also wreak havoc on our countrys economy. The Miracle Worker organ. If such locales have tragic histories, this is all the more reason to reimagine them in ways that both recognize and overcome that past. To avoid this, be sure to get in touch with the property owners before visiting a haunt, and respect their hours of operation, local regulations, and rules for visiting at all times. This design is derived from the neoclassical architectural style of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Ken is a graphic designer, web developer and co-founder of One True Paranormal, a para-group in southwest Missouri. The Mitchell family sold Belle Mont and 33 of the surrounding acres to their friends Isaac and Catherine Baker Jones Winston, who were also from Virginia, in 1833. Moreover, the entire country was once the land of American Indians, and a good deal of it deceptively or violently taken from them. Nearby, an early 1800s mansion, Belle Mont, is available for touring. Being new to the area, none of us knew of the Belmont Mansion or its location. Many "ghost hunters" have been arrested because they failed to contact property owners and/or local authorities ahead of time. Please report any inaccuracies. I remember her sounding really flippant about it and me wondering how being shot at was not a big deal! Let us know! Discover the largest house built in Tennessee prior to the Civil War. What do you think? You can visit the historic Belle Mont Mansion at 1569 Cook Ln., Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674. LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality Shoals, Shoals Young Democrats and Rev. The architecture of Belmont Mansion makes it one of the most significant homes of 19th century Tennessee. Blue Star Museum: Belle Mont proudly offers free admission to active duty military personnel and their families between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The answer will always be a mystery. === A monument was errected in 2008 on the old Henry Courthouse square in Martinsville, VA. . Affordable Nashville Elopements start here! He has a bachelors in history and masters in teaching from the University of Virginia and a masters in theology from Christendom College. Slavery Plantation Agriculture Robert J. Vejnar, Kennesaw State University Dogtrot Cabin at Belle Mont Plantation Plantation agriculture was a form of large-scale farming that was most prevalent during the colonial and antebellum periods of American history. However, while living in Belle Mont and planting the surrounding acres, Dr. Mitchell housed 152 slaves in 13 slave cabins on the property. Then he didnt snap back and unadded me and my Freinds girlfriend said a woman followed us back to the car and as soon as we pulled out a car came out of no where like we seen no headlights the whole time and we get home And another Freind of mine gets a text and said we know you was here no trespassing and Said I had a picture taker (dont really know what that means) and he had a drink and a bag of chips and he threw it down and they said we found your snack. Because of the tragedies that transpired therin, they powerfully communicate how far America has come. The other residents seem to tolerate it OK, but I hate it. Belle Mont also illustrates Jeffersons reverence for the neoclassical architectural elements and ideas of the Italian Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio,The Winston family maintained ownership and continued living in Belle Mont through the Civil War and until around 1940. Belmont Mansion, or Belle Monte as it was known in the 19th century, was not a plantation but still relied on a large number of enslaved workers to maintain the estate. All submissions made to The National Paranormal Society, for the purposes of data analysis, article or editorial publication, team, individual or service listing, or any other submission category not listed become the property of the NPS. Very little historic data, including census records, include last names of those who were enslaved, making it challenging to locate descendents through geneaology records. It was the centerpiece of a 1,760 acre cotton plantation and had one of the largest slave populations in the state. Located in the middle of the Belmont University campusbehind Freeman Hall. As there is not formal cemetery for the slaves it is likely that they were buried on some part of the estate. Belle Mont attracts approximately 5,000 visitors each year. Simply by virtue of ones social justice warrior credentials and alleged victimhood status, these people deputize themselves the cultural police of our history, our language, and now apparently our wedding venues. Dr. Mitchell and his family of seven were already living in Belle Mont when it was fully completed in 1832. In 1983, concerned about the condition of the house, members of the Winston family donated Belle Mont and 33 surrounding acres to the Alabama Historical Commission. Couple looking at a car in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Her eyes, big as saucers, alarm me. In addition, volunteers from the Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation assist as docents for special events and participate in fund-raising activities. Well, all in all, me and my fellow troop members and family members spent about six weeks there, clearing underbrush, old trash, planting grass, removing small trees, etc. 2008-2023 AlabamaHauntedHouses.com. Admission: Adults $6; students, seniors, military $5; and children 6-18 $3. Lewis called our tendency to view our own age as superior to others, is a dark chasm ending in our own destruction. I mention this because Gay Mont was his home. I know someone who used to volunteer at Belle Mont, which is open for tours, and she said the house was definitely haunted by a woman, possibility a former mistress or daughter who once lived in the house. Be specific. Owned by the Alabama Historical Commission and operated by the Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation. Belmont Mansion, or Belle Monte as it was known in the 19th century, was not a plantation but still relied on a large number of enslaved workers to maintain the estate. It has a staff of three: a site director, curator, and tour guide. We went back there, and I finished the project, with help from all was involved. Intimate and elegant elopement ceremonies are popular at Belmont Mansion! The house and surrounding property are reportedly haunted by the former slaves that lived and died on the plantation. All of these places, despite their histories, are objectively beautiful. This is a list of plantations and/or plantation houses in the U.S. state of Virginia that are National Historic Landmarks, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, other historic registers, or are otherwise significant for their history, association with significant events or people, or their architecture and design. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Belle Mont Mansion is located outside of Tuscumbia. I dont think only certain places are as haunted, as the belief that there are paranormal things happening all around us everywhere, and just certain people are allowed to witness these things at certain times. At the time, the name of the plantation was not Gay Mont, but Rose Hill. Its also not as if Dixie estates were the only sites where acts of brutality were committed by one group of Americans against another. 68 were here. Things seem to be at their worst after midnight, until early dawn. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Mr. Winston was a cousin of Dolly Madison, Patrick Henry, and Isaac Cole, who was a personal friend and secretary of President Thomas Jefferson. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), NPS Investigation & Research Education Resource, World Institute for Scientific Exploration (WISE), http://www.mystery411.com/Landing_bellemonttuscumbia.html. All information on this page was submitted to Alabama Haunted Houses and was believed to be accurate at the time it was posted. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander, and one would have to be a clinical narcissist to think future generations wont find us at fault for any number of things. The Belle Mont Mansion was constructed from 1828-1832. Is it not appropriate to celebrate momentous occasions in beautiful places? It remained in the Winston family for over a century, and is currently used as a historic house museum open for tours by appointment. Surely, we do not want to pretend these places dont have a violent, racist past. Visiting here is an opportunity to explore one of the few 1850s era homes still standing in Nashville while learning about the place and the people -- both free and enslaved -- who make this site worth understanding. My wife and I went to the mansion and learned of its peculiarities from the informative guide person. The home was built. It's currently operated as a museum, and tours are available. During the 1960s, star-crossed lovers camped inside the rotting mansion in the woods, and the home has long been the site of drunken high school parties. I contacted the historic society to find out about the planned restoration project that I had heard about, and asked if I could assist as part of my Eagle Scout project in the Boy Scouts. Their appetites will not be satisfied until all things and persons associated with injustice, real or imagined, are expunged from public experience and memory. I got chills then tried to write it off. As there is not formal cemetery for the slaves it is likely that they were buried on some part of the estate. Jones says her new title is one she holds . Magnificently sited on a commanding hilltop, Belle Mont is one of early Alabama's crowning architectural achievements.. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. I have heard quiet voices in the night.