Robert Donnell House

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Robert Donnell House
Robert Donnell House 1935 HABS 01.jpg
The house in October 1935
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Location601 S. Clinton St., Athens, Alabama
Coordinates 34°47′46″N86°58′5″W / 34.79611°N 86.96806°W / 34.79611; -86.96806 Coordinates: 34°47′46″N86°58′5″W / 34.79611°N 86.96806°W / 34.79611; -86.96806
Arealess than one acre
Built1840 (1840)
NRHP reference # 73000354 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 19, 1973

The Robert Donnell House (also known as the City Superintendent's House) is a historic house located at 601 South Clinton Street in Athens, Alabama.

Athens, Alabama City in Alabama, United States

Athens is a city in Limestone County, in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 21,897. The city is the county seat of Limestone County and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area.

Contents

Description and history

The house was built in 1840 by Robert Donnell, a minister who had come to Athens in the 1820s to establish a Presbyterian church. After his death in 1855, the house passed to his son, James. It was purchased in 1869 by Joshua P. Coman in order to establish the Athens Male College, beginning the house's association with education. In 1879, it was purchased by the city and became part of the public school campus, and sold ten years later to the North Alabama Experiment Station and Agricultural School. The house returned to city ownership in 1936, and is today part of the campus of Athens Middle School. The house is a two-story frame structure clad in clapboard. A double-height portico with paired square columns covers the entry. The main block has a center-hall plan, with a two-story, gable roofed wing off the rear. [2]

Alabama Cooperative Extension System educational outreach organization in Alabama, United States

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System provides educational outreach to the citizens of Alabama on behalf of the state's two land grant universities: Alabama A&M University and Auburn University.

Clapboard (architecture) wooden siding on a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping

Clapboard or clabbard, also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.

Portico Type of porch

A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 19, 1973. [1]

National Register of Historic Places Federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property.

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  2. Floyd, W. Warner (August 1, 1973). "Robert Donnell House". National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. National Park Service. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2014.See also: "Accompanying photos". Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2014.