Belle Mont

Belle Mont
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
File:Belle Mont.jpg
Belle Mont in 2010
Nearest city	Tuscumbia, Alabama
Coordinates
Area	5.5 acres (2.2 ha)
Built	1828
Architectural style	Jeffersonian
NRHP Reference #	82002003
Added to NRHP	February 23, 1982

Belle Mont is a historic Jeffersonian-style plantation house near Tuscumbia in Colbert County, Alabama. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1982, due to its architectural significance.

History

Belle Mont was built between 1828 and 1832 for Dr. Alexander W. Mitchell, a native of Virginia. Mitchell, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, was also one of the first large-scale planters and slaveholders in the area. Mitchell sold the 1,680-acre (680 ha) plantation to another Virginia native, Isaac Winston, in 1833. It remained in the Winston family until 1941. The house and 33 acres (13 ha) were donated to the Alabama Historical Commission in 1983. It has been undergoing a phased restoration since that time and is currently operated as a historic house museum.

Architecture

Considered by architectural scholars to be a clear example of Thomas Jefferson's influence upon the architecture of the early United States, Belle Mont is one of only a few surviving examples of Jeffersonian architecture in the Deep South. Built in red brick, it features a raised, two story central section with flanking one-story wings. The side wings project toward the rear in a U-shape, forming a semi-enclosed rear courtyard.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Colbert County, Alabama

External links

• Official website
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. AL-388, "Belmont, U.S. Highway 43, Spring Valley, Colbert County, AL", 44 photos, 140 measured drawings