…at 305 S Lawrence, adjacent to the County Courthouse, was built ca 1855 in the Italianate Style. But it was extensively remodeled in 1890 (Victorian), and again in 1910 (Colonial Revival). Poor house. Alabama Gov John Gill Shorter lived here 1861-62, and this was the official Governors Mansion for those two years, a period when the Confederate Capitol was in Montgomery. The structure suffered a terrible fire in 1973, at a time when the Alabama Historical Commission was one of several tenants. Over 6,000 pictures, plus 300 rare books, were lost in the blaze.

-Charles Humphries