In examining the historic architecture of Columbus, the earliest houses other than log construction are the vernacular frame and brick raised cottages and the late Federal style houses. Stylistically the oldest surviving houses in Columbus are raised cottages and today’s column will take a look at them.
Gideon Lincecum is said to have built the first frame house in Columbus in 1819, which is also the year in which Columbus was first officially recognized as a town. An 1848 description of that house simply calls it “a single story frame house.” That house was probably a simplified late Federal style.
One of the earliest styles of architecture in the South and the style of some of the oldest surviving houses in Columbus is the raised cottage. It is a style that was introduced into the south Atlantic coastal and Gulf coastal areas from the West Indies, probably in the early 1700s. It is a style that had evolved to address living in a hot, wet, semi-tropical climate. I can think of 11 pre-1850 raised cottages that have survived in Columbus.
Columbus’ earliest raised cottages are vernacular, which simply means they were constructed to conform to local climate, culture and materials. Surviving raised cottages in Columbus range from the vernacular Ole Homestead, c. 1825, which exhibits a Creole influence to the Haven/Williams-Gass House, c. 1843, which has a Carolina Low Country influence to the Pratt Thomas home, c. 1847, which is a high style Greek Revival. This mixing of styles results from Columbus being an intersection of settlers moving here from the east with their Georgia or Carolina taste or coming up the Tombigbee from the Gulf with a Spanish or French heritage. It’s a mixing of cultural heritage which has given Columbus a rich architectural history.
The oldest known surviving house within Columbus’ original town limits is the Ole Homestead, a c. 1825 raised cottage on College Street. It was probably purchased or built by Charles Abert when he moved to Columbus in 1825 and is a vernacular raised cottage showing a Creole influence. Interestingly, in appearance it resembles a miniature version of “Madam John’s Legacy,” a 1789 French house in New Orleans and also several surviving colonial houses in the West Indies. The house, which was enlarged and reoriented from facing Third Street South to facing College Street in 1835, may have originally combined Federal elements with a vernacular raised cottage.
A good example of the Carolina Low Country influence in raised cottages is the Haven/Williams-Gass House on Second Avenue North. It is a typical raised cottage having a brick above ground basement with a frame main floor. With its broad low-gable roof, it reflects the Carolina Low Country style of raised cottages. It was built around 1843 by Isaac and Thomas Williams, free men of color, who had moved to Columbus from South Carolina, which would account for its Carolina influences.
Among Columbus’ six surviving “high style” Greek Revival raised cottages, the most significant is the Pratt Thomas home (1847). Ken P’Pool, retired longtime head of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s Historic Preservation Division, calls it “the largest, most elegant, and most unusual of Columbus’ raised-cottages.” In 1847, as the construction of the house was being completed, Edward Fontaine, rector of the Episcopal Church, described it as being “one of the most comfortable houses I have seen lately.”
P’Pool considers Columbus’ surviving early style raised cottages to include the Ole Homestead, The Haven, The Schaffer-Vaughn House (c. 1835 on 10th Street North), Magnolia Hill (early 1830s on 12th Street North) and the Taylor-Nash House (c. 1845 on Third Avenue North).
As Columbus entered a boom time in the mid-1830s, Greek Revival homes began to make their appearance. This more sophisticated style carried over into some of the raised cottages then being constructed. These houses, though raised cottage in plan, incorporated elements of high-style Greek Revival appearance and ornamentation. P’Pool found the following Greek Revival raised cottages have survived in Columbus: Lincoln House (c. 1846 on Third Avenue South), the Pratt Thomas House (1847 on Second Street South). Lehmquen (c. 1837 also on Second Street South), the Allen-Lipscomb-Profitt House (c. 1842 which was moved from the 600 block of College Street to Ridge Road), the Barry-Campbell House (c. 1846 on Eighth Street North) and the Peterson House (c.1855 on Third Avenue South).
Columbus’ unique collection of architecture is exemplified by the variety of raised cottages still surviving. This mixing of styles results from Columbus being an intersection of settlers moving here from the east with their British heritage and the principal commercial trade coming up the Tombigbee from Mobile with its French and Spanish heritage.
Rufus Ward is a local historian.
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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