Just one if many weird, cant explain it things that have happened here. Belle Mont also illustrates Jeffersons reverence for the neoclassical architectural elements and ideas of the Italian Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio," (Commission 2). Mr. Winston was a cousin of Dolly Madison, Patrick Henry, and Isaac Cole, who was a personal friend and secretary of President Thomas Jefferson. The property is located just south of Tuscumbia and west of US Route 43 at 1569 Cook Lane. The house and surrounding property are reportedly haunted by the former slaves that lived and died on the plantation. 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. It was built in 1940 on some of the land near General John Coffees home. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Then you maybe talk to family members and realize everyone feels the same way. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. As of Thursday morning, Alabama Historical Commission members have not responded to the letter or AL.coms emails and phone calls. Even though it is now just 24 acres, many of the important elements remain. Visitors to the mansion have reported seeing dark shadowy figures walking the fields and have heard the sound of chains rattling near the house. Constructed between 1849 and 1860, Belmont Mansion was the home of Adelicia and Joseph Acklen. 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. Affordable Nashville Elopements start here! Slaves in the plantation generations were members of what Berlin calls "slave societies," where slavery was the primary source of labor. Belle Mont Mansion has resumed normal operating hours and will be operating at reduced capacity to safeguard against COVID-19. Moreover, the entire country was once the land of American Indians, and a good deal of it deceptively or violently taken from them. The letter was signed by social justice groups Project Say Something, Standing in Power, of Decatur, and Beyond the Women's March. Strange are there actually any African Americans who have memories of the antebellum period, given that it ended 160 years ago? Please contact nps.submissions@gmail.com for more information. Last edit to this listing: 1/16/2016 (2604 days ago). Is it not appropriate to celebrate momentous occasions in beautiful places? Montvale, the farm at Belmont, was destroyed in 1864. You can imagine me trying to picture my great aunt doing this, haha! The underlying premise of the anti-plantation movement is that Southern plantations cannot be romanticized. She said he would come out shooting if he caught trespassers. Be happy. Located just outside Tuscumbia in Colbert County, the mansion is one of a few Palladian-style houses in the Deep South. Discover the largest house built in Tennessee prior to the Civil War. 3. Now, thats poetic justice. Gradually, the family gatherings became less frequent until the home was completely abandoned. Very little historic data, including census records, include last names of those who were enslaved, making it challenging to locate descendents through geneaology records. Not sure if it did or not but sure does fit. He says, the man that lives in that house. still pointing. The home was built. 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. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! I was born and raised in Tuscumbia. If such locales have tragic histories, this is all the more reason to reimagine them in ways that both recognize and overcome that past. Surely, we do not want to pretend these places dont have a violent, racist past. Nor do the sins of our forefathers nullify their many acts of virtue or the great political and cultural gifts they bestowed upon future generations. 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). William F. Buckleys popularization of Eric Voegelins warning is apt: Dont immanentize the eschaton!. 2008-2023 AlabamaHauntedHouses.com. Belle Mont Mansion By Ken Weigandin Ashley Ann Lewis, Haunted Locations Belle Mont was erected in 1828 for a physician from Louisa County, Virginia, Dr. Alexander Williams Mitchell. The voices in the night are the hardest to explain away. At Belmont, several extended families lived in slavery over the course of several generations. Being new to the area, none of us knew of the Belmont Mansion or its location. 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! Then they could celebrate their wedding reception at a Southern manor and have a hell of a good time. It was then purchased by two women who in 1890 started a college which evolved into Belmont University. For some reason a lot of places in Tuscumbia AL are haunted. This design is derived from the neoclassical architectural style of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. The use of the NPS name for any unauthorized events or activities is strictly prohibited. Because of the tragedies that transpired therin, they powerfully communicate how far America has come. Belle Mont was built for Alexander Williams Mitchell, who grew up in Louisa County, Virginia, only 25 miles from Jefferson's home at Monticello. 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. Unlock premium content, ad-free browsing, and access to comments for just $4/month. This area of the property can be accessed from the master bedroom through a large door with a window that leads directly to the courtyard area, which is where the detached kitchen would have been accessed as well. The historic home is the site of the annual Art of the Dish this week. 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. Stories of the Past - Conversations for the Future. The house is listed on the National Historic Registry (#19820223). 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. He was not buried on the property as many legends say but in the Winston Family Cemetery in Tuscumbia as was his wife Catherine who died July 25, 1884. This celebration clearly ignores the perspective of those who experienced Belle Mont as a forced labor camp., Slavery hard to teach in Cotton State of Alabama, elementary educators say. What Todays Cultural Marxists Would Be Wise To Learn From Martin Luther King Jr. e prior to the Civil War. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Belle Meade plantation is one of the premier plantations in Tennessee and one of the top attractions in the state. Its also not as if Dixie estates were the only sites where acts of brutality were committed by one group of Americans against another. Catholics in the 19th century suffered violent assaults at the hands of anti-papist mobs on the streets of Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. Lewis called our tendency to view our own age as superior to others, is a dark chasm ending in our own destruction. No profanity. Indeed, I wonder how many black Americans even have a deceased grandparent who could have had a memory of antebellum America. 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. I have lived here since 1963. 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." My wife, son (age 5) and I were heading from Muscle Shoals to our home in Littleville after a night of shopping and eating. It's currently operated as a museum, and tours are available. The organization behind this growing movement, Color of Change, indicts vendors for using words like breathtaking to describe plantations. You feel things passing by you. Jones says her new title is one she holds . Slave child's doll inside Belle Mont Mansion. Located in the heart of Nashville on the Belmont University Campus. The Conway family purchased the property in 1670 and it remained in the family for 120 years. If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know! Ticket options include: General Admission, Guided Tour, Curator Tour & Civil War at Belmont, Discover the largest house built in Tennesse. Most Americans know that George Washington owned enslaved people at his Mount Vernon home. Would like to know if anyone does know anything about it and any info in accordance with that reference. 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. Some visitors say that the building . Its important the reality of what happened in these spaces is present, versus a romanticization of human rights abuses.. The Belle Mont Mansion was constructed from 1828-1832. The site is 1/4 mile west of US 43 South on Cook Lane, three miles south of intersection US 43 and US 72. 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. The schooner Clotilda smuggled African captives into the U.S. in 1860, more than 50 years after importing slaves was outlawed. 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. 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.However, while living in Belle Mont and planting the surrounding acres, Dr. Mitchell housed 152 slaves in 13 slave cabins on the property. Belle Mont is available for special events. 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. I havent asked in years the last I remember I think I may have heard it was being restored but privately owned and with no plans to open to the public. 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? According to census records, Mitchell enslaved 115 people at the cotton plantation. I dont know any ghost stories but my mother tells a few funny stories. The National Paranormal Society is not responsible for individuals, teams and submissions listed on the NPS website. Tickets are available at Belle Mont Mansion and at Fiddledee D! Plantations used for bourgeois ceremonies with language that obscures or even glorifies the estates dark past are one example. I have experienced some very strange things in my home. Constructed between 1849 and 1860, Belmont Mansion was the home of Adelicia and Joseph Acklen. For more information, click here. I have heard quiet voices in the night. Happy haunting! It has a staff of three: a site director, curator, and tour guide. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. 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. This style stems from the neoclassical architectural design of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Owned by the Alabama Historical Commission and operated by the Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation. Click "thumbs up" if you think its haunted, or "thumbs down" if you think its all just a tall tale. Indeed, it was brutal and terrifying. Today the Belmont Mansion Association, which was formed in 1972, owns the collection, runs the museum, and shares this unique story of 19th century Nashville with visitors from far and near. In each society and in each generation slaves adjusted and . This would have been in the late 60s, early 70s I would guess. Visitors to the mansion have reported seeing dark shadowy figures walking the fields and have heard the sound of chains rattling near the house.http://bellemont.weebly.com/history.htmlhttp://www.mystery411.com/Landing_bellemonttuscumbia.html. Moreover, the entire. Beginning in 1889, the basement of Belmont, which served as the main workspace for many enslaved persons, was significantly remodeled with no care given to historic preservation. Is it possible that Dr. Mitchell built Belle Mont in this style, two years after Jeffersons death, to honor the late president? It was one of those drizzly unpleasant days, so after a while I went into the Cellar area of the plantation. Belle Mont was erected in 1828 for a physician from Louisa County, Virginia, Dr. Alexander Williams Mitchell. After finding lesson plans asking Alabama fourth-graders to write their own slave narratives, experts talk about the hardships of teaching slavery on an elementary school level. Couple looking at a car in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. The tell when I was growing up was that the book 13 Alabama Ghosts held a tell from that house. Moreover, blacks, both free and slave, provided the bulk of labor that built the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and other early government buildings. My son says, Yes, hes walking to the house. Having passed the sign and turn to the house, I realized there is no way he could have known of the house based on his not being able to read and having no pre-exposure to the houses existence. Belle Mont is located south of Tuscumbia in Colbert Couty in northwest Alabama. "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. Private property should be respected at all times, as should all posted signs concerning trespassing, hours of operation and other local regulations. As there is not formal cemetery for the slaves it is likely that they were buried on some part of the estate. 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. Have a haunt/halloween related news story or a tip? Stay safe. I asked, Do you see him now? in a jested way as I awkwardly half-smile to my wife. Use of the directory is at the discretion of the individual. Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation, Inc. is the support group in charge of operating the site. Off Campus Book Store University of North Alabama, Norton Auditorium University of North Alabama. A majority of rooms in Belmont Mansion have been meticulously restored. 2019 was the year it finally became socially unacceptable to use a historic plantation as a wedding venue. Peace to everyone. The answer will always be a mystery. Yet self-righteous assaults on these places and the many ways they are used will not bring restorative justice. Top ways to experience Belle Mont Mansion and nearby attractions Florence, Muscle Shoals Multi-Attraction Pass 2 Attractions & Museums from $25.00 per adult Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Tour in Sheffield Alabama 72 Recommended Walking Tours from $20.00 per adult The Raptor, High Rope Course and Zipline Tickets, Wheeler Lake KOA 1 YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Sold by the Acklen family in 1887, the house went to a developer who began one of Nashvilles early suburbs. Belle Mont Mansion | Tuscumbia AL 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. Before you visit ANY local real haunt, make sure to acquire the appropriate permits and/or permissions, and be respectful of privately owned properties. 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 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. Affordable Nashville Elopements start here! Visit BelmontMansionEvents.com to review options to Elope in Nashville at Belmont Mansion. 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? The answer will always be a mystery. The property remained in the family until 1941 and in 1983 the house and 35 acres was donated to the State of Alabama by the Fennel family. LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality Shoals, Shoals Young Democrats and Rev. My great great great great grandfather used to live at the belle mont mansion ! It has been referred to as the Isaac Winston House and is listed as Belmont in the National Register of Historic Places and as the Henry B. Thornton Plantation House in the Historic American Buildings Survey. Visit BelmontMansionEvents.com to review options to Elope in Nashville at Belmont Mansion. Belle Mont is located south of Tuscumbia in Colbert Couty in northwest Alabama. Group of women standing outside Belle Mont Mansion. By the following year, in 1890, all the houses occupied by enslaved Blacks on the estate had been destroyed, leaving no physical presence for interpretation. The Alabama Historical Commission owns this historic site. 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. What county in Alabama had the most slaves? No haunted tours for me. A Pinterest representative, for example, announced that the website is working on de-indexing Google searches for plantation wedding. In December, a coalition of Alabama activists protested a Plantation Christmas event held at the Belle Mont Mansion near Tuscumbia, Alabama, because it memorialized white supremacist celebrations of Christmas. Following the death of his wife Alexander Mitchell remarried and sold the plantation to Isaac and Catherine Winston and moved to Philadelphia in 1833. Weddings should be a symbol of love and unity. This was just word of mouth and may not have been accurate, but Im glad to hear it can be toured. Voice your opinion here! The celebration of a Plantation Christmas is racist, the letter reads. It remained in the Winston family for over a century, and is currently used as a historic house museum open for tours by appointment. The other residents seem to tolerate it OK, but I hate it. Shes told me that prior to the restorations the mansion was a prime site for local teens to be dumb kids trespass, vandalize, etc. This gets to the broader dilemma with our zeitgeist, which combines woke deconstructionism with a modern version of damnatio memoriae, or condemnation of memory, an ancient Roman practice whereby persons vilified by the state were erased from public memory. 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. 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. The answer will always be a mystery. 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. Beyond Jesus Revolution: 10 Outside-The-Box Faith-Based Films On The Horizon, Major Doctors Organization Publicly Embraces Dismembering Babies Until Birth, Congress Quietly Left The Door Open To Funneling More Tax Dollars To EcoHealth Research In China For National Security, Utah Considers Ranked-Choice Voting In Primaries Despite Disasters In Alaska And Maine.