Stands on Mildred Street at the head of Goldthwaite. . a veritable jewel of the Cottage Hill Historic District. It is a modest Greek Revival mansion built circa 1850, with clapboard siding yet. I think it sat empty for the past 50 years, but at last someone is trying to save it, as Montgomery’s one-time most exclusive neighborhood tries to make a comeback from the pit of decay. The structure was built by Widow Ann McBride, whose husband had run the stage operation between Montgomery and Mobile. She sold to Wallace Screws, who gave up law to write, and ultimately he became editor and publisher of the Advertiser. In 1890, Screws sold to John C Tyson, one of the several Lowndesboro planters who moved to Montgomery about that time. Tyson was in real estate, served a term on the city council. Tyson’s daughter was the wife of Thomas W Martin, President of Alabama Power for eons, and who held such sway over Alabama govt and industry for half of the last century. Martin founded our State Chamber, got us Horseshoe Bend Park, organized the Southern Company (which rules powerwise over all SE States); Lake Martin was named for him. And then, Tyson’s grandson, John III, judge on the Alabama Criminal Appeals Court for 20 years, lived right up the street from me, was married to Bear Bryant’s daughter, Mae Martin. So many dots to connect.

-Charles Humphries