Monte Sano Railroad Workers' House

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Monte Sano Railroad Workers' House
MONTE SANO RAILROAD WORKERS' HOUSE, HUNTSVILLE, MADISON COUNTY, AL.jpg
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Location4119 Shelby Ave., Huntsville, Alabama
Coordinates 34°44′29″N86°31′26″W / 34.74139°N 86.52389°W / 34.74139; -86.52389 Coordinates: 34°44′29″N86°31′26″W / 34.74139°N 86.52389°W / 34.74139; -86.52389
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1888 (1888)
Architectural styleSaddlebag
NRHP reference No. 98001019 [1]
Added to NRHPAugust 14, 1998

The Monte Sano Railroad Workers' House is a historic boarding house in Huntsville, Alabama, United States. Built in 1888, it is the only remaining building relating to the Monte Sano Hotel and Railroad. The North Alabama Improvement Company built the three-story, Queen Anne hotel on Monte Sano Mountain in 1887. The following year, construction began on a rail line connecting the hotel with the Memphis and Charleston Depot downtown. The house was constructed to house workers building and later operating the railroad.

The workers' house was originally a saddlebag plan building, consisting of two rooms sharing a central chimney. A shed roofed, two-room addition was added in 1925. The façade has two doors, flanked by two-over-two sash windows. The house is clad with board-and-batten siding, and topped with a gabled metal roof. The structure was modernized after 1997, and a shed-roof front porch added.

The hotel and railroad venture was not a financial success, and the railroad shut down in 1895, followed by the hotel in 1904. [2] The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  2. Barr, Jane J.; Harvie P. Jones; Trina Binkley (July 28, 1997). "Monte Sano Railroad Workers' House". National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.See also: "Accompanying photos". Archived (PDF) from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.