Coordinates: 30°41′14″N 88°02′57″W / 30.6873°N 88.0493°W / 30.6873; -88.0493

Kennedy House (Mobile, Alabama)

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Front, on Government Street, January 1963. Photo by Jack Boucher.

The Kennedy House (also Joshua Kennedy House or Kennedy-Cox House, and formerly known as Barnwell-Mitchell House[1]) at 607 Government Street in Mobile, Alabama, was built by local landowner Joshua Kennedy, Jr in 1857.[2]

Description

It is a stuccoed brick two storey townhouse with monumental columns at the front, bracketed eaves, and arched windows.[2] The building was catalogued for the Historic American Buildings Survey of Alabama, HABS AL-800, and photographed by Jack Boucher; at the time the notes were typed for the survey, in 1979, the building was also called "Barnwell-Mitchell House". The HABS documentation described it thusly:

Brick with stucco scored to simulate ashlar, rectangular (three-bay front) with long offset rear wing, two stories, gable roof with single cross-gable, wide bracketed eaves, full-height pedimented four-column portico reflecting transition between Classic Revival and Italianate, arched openings with hood molds, bay window on W side, L-shaped wooden gallery in rear; side hall plan, ornate interior woodwork, curved stair with statuary niche, denticulated plaster cornice; notable cast-iron fence. Built 1857 for wealthy local merchant; later Seamen's Bethel; American Legion headquarters since 1947; later addition to rear wing. Outstanding local example of late ante-bellum architectural eclecticism, 4 ext. photos (1963), 2 int. photos (1963).[3][4]

Joshua Kennedy (who died fighting for the Confederate Army near Richmond, Virginia in 1862.[5]) and his descendants lived there until 1923, after which for two decades it was the Merchant Navy Club of the Seamen's Church Institute of Mobile (colloquially the "Seamen's Bethel").[2][6][7] It was renovated by the American Legion Post #3, which earned the Legion an award in 1950 from the Historic Mobile Preservation Society and the house a listing in the 1963 Historical American Buildings Survey, but had fallen into disrepair by 2012.[2]

Mobile's 1857 Foundation, with financial support from one of Mobile's mystic societies, renovated the house (for $2 million) in the 2010s; it reopened in 2020.[8]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Gamble 1987, p. 281.
  2. ^ a b c d Fraiser 2012, p. 38.
  3. ^ HABS 1979, Supplemental.
  4. ^ Gamble 1987, p. 303.
  5. ^ SF 1891, p. 233.
  6. ^ ASD 1942, p. 10.
  7. ^ AS 1942, p. 172.
  8. ^ Matthews 2020.

Bibliography

  • Fraiser, Jim (2012). "Kennedy House". The Majesty of Mobile. Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 9781455614912.
  • "American Merchant Seaman Tells Story of Cordial Welcome at Mobile Bethel". Port of Mobile News. Vol. 16–18. Public Relations and Advertising Department, Alabama State Docks. September 1942.
  • "Guide for Seamen Ashore". American Seamen: A Review. Vol. 1–3. American Seamen's Friend Society. 1942.
  • Catalogue of the Sigma Phi: E.P.V. Sigma Phi Society. 1891.
  • Matthews, Michelle (February 12, 2020). "After decades of neglect, it's time for this historic home in Mobile to shine once again". al.com.
  • Gamble, Robert S., ed. (1987). The Alabama Catalog: Historic American Buildings Survey: a Guide to the Early Architecture of the State. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817301484.
  • "Supplemental Pages from Survey HABS AL-800" (PDF). Historic American Buildings Survey. United States Library of Congress. 1979. HABS AL-800.

Further reading

  • Inge Baker, Eleanor (February 14, 2020). "Mystic Restoration". Mobile Bay.
  • "Joshua Kennedy House, 607 Government Street, Mobile, Mobile County, AL". Historic American Buildings Survey. United States Library of Congress. HABS AL-800.
  • Historic Mobile: An Illustrated Guide. Junior League of Mobile. 1974. pp. 11, 26.
  • "The Seaman's Church Institute of Mobile". Inventory of the Church Archives of Alabama. Vol. 1. Alabama Historical records survey project. November 1939. p. 20.

External links

30°41′14″N 88°02′57″W / 30.6873°N 88.0493°W / 30.6873; -88.0493

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