The Oaks (Colbert County, Alabama)

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The Oaks
The Oaks, Ricks Lane, Leighton (Colbert County, Alabama).jpg
The house in a 1935 HABS photo
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Nearest city Tuscumbia, Alabama
Coordinates 34°40′27″N87°35′36″W / 34.67417°N 87.59333°W / 34.67417; -87.59333
Area7.7 acres (3.1 ha)
Built1818 (1818)
Architectural styleGeorgian
NRHP reference No. 76000319 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 7, 1976

The Oaks (also known as Abraham Ricks Plantation) is a historic residence near Tuscumbia in Colbert County, Alabama. Ricks came to North Alabama from Halifax, North Carolina in the early 1820s. He acquired a large plantation which he sold in 1826 and purchased nearby land, which was worked by the forced labour of enslaved people who he had brought with him. A log house had been built on the new property circa 1818, and Ricks built a new, larger house connected to it which was completed in 1832. The house remained in the family until 1966, and is still in use as a private residence.

The original house is a 1+12-story log structure covered with weatherboards. Exterior chimneys rest in each gable end, and a shed roofed porch projects from the rear of the house. The log house is connected to the two-story main house by a one-story, gable roofed hall with two exterior doors and windows matching those of the main house. The front façade of the main house is five bays wide, with a central portico supported by two square columns and topped with a deck. The twin-leaf door is surrounded by sidelights and a transom; a similar door with sidelights opens to the deck above. The portico is flanked by a pair of twelve-over-twelve sash windows on each side on both floors. The interior has a center-hall layout with one room on either side of a main hall. [2]

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. [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 February 21, 2015.
  2. Floyd, W. Warner; Ellen Mertins (April 27, 1976). "The Oaks". National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. National Park Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.See also: "Accompanying photos". Archived (PDF) from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.