Greensboro Alabama Business and Tourism Association (GABTA) is happy to announce the return of Porches and Parlors Holiday Tour for 2024! The tour will take place on December 8th from 1-5pm and features eight historic sites. Tickets for the tour are $20 each and can be purchased at Magnolia Grove (1002 Hobson Street) the day of the event starting at noon. Magnolia Grove is an Alabama Historic Commission landmark and is featured on the tour. Tickets may be purchased before the event at The Partridge Berry (1305 Main Street) during their normal business hours. Proceeds from the tour go to GABTA’s efforts to promote small business, local tourism, and downtown beautification projects.
Oakhampton was built by Robert Shackleford as a small, single-story home that contained only two main rooms with a hallway before 1840. This property was purchased by J. W. McCrary circa 1855, who remodeled, enlarging the house into the present Greek Revival structure by adding a second story. His nephew (Lee Otts) added the four fluted portico columns. Today the current owners have filled the house with beautiful antiques and over 20 Christmas trees for the holiday season.
St Paul’s rectory was originally built in the late 1800s by Francis Marion Peterson, a leading Greensboro citizen and professor at Southern University. Originally featuring a small tower on top of the house, it is a wonderful example of pattern book Italianate. When the Episcopal Church (around the 1930s) decided they wanted to purchase the home as its rectory, the women of the Church sold cakes and held regular meals to help raise money for the purchase. Beautifully maintained throughout the years, the house is now occupied by St Paul’s current priest the Reverend Jane Hagan Major and her fur baby Oliver.
Also known as the Old French House, Noel Ramsey House is one of the oldest structures in Greensboro. Built c. 1821 by Thomas Noel, Noel- Ramsey House is the only surviving structure in Greensboro associated with a member of the Vine and Olive Colony of Napoleonic refugees.
Magnolia Grove was built c.1840 by Isaac and Sarah Croom as their townhome. The home is an example of the temple form of the Greek Revival style. The house was purchased by Sallie Pearson Hobson (a niece) in 1879. Richmond Pearson Hobson, son of Sallie and James, became a Spanish-American War hero and a US Congressman. The Hobson family deeded the house and land to the state in 1943. Today, the house and three outbuildings are preserved on 15 acres. The inside of the home remains just as it was when Margaret Hobson passed in 1978- with three generations of family furnishings in place.
Sumac Cottage on South Street, which is also a site on this year’s tour, will host a special Holiday Market and Open House from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will feature an artist market on the porch, showcasing work from a number of accomplished artists and craftspeople from the Black Belt and beyond. Visitors can expect a diverse selection of items, including paintings, textile art and garments, embroidery, jewelry, and folk art. A pop-up shop will be set up inside the cottage, along with live music and other activities.
