Belle Mont Mansion has resumed normal operating hours and will be operating at reduced capacity to safeguard against COVID-19. These families included the Baker and Snowden families, among others. Owning 1,680 acres of cotton and corn, Dr. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. Belle Mont is available for special events. First, there is no such thing as a slave plantation. There are cotton plantations, sugar plantations, tobacco plantations, etc., etc., but no slave plantations. Owning 1,680 acres of cotton and corn, Dr. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. Off Campus Book Store University of North Alabama, Norton Auditorium University of North Alabama. Stories of the Past - Conversations for the Future. Peace to everyone. It's estimated that 40 percent of slave owners may have been white women. Shes told me that prior to the restorations the mansion was a prime site for local teens to be dumb kids trespass, vandalize, etc. Belle Mont Mansion | Encyclopedia of Alabama Catholics in the 19th century suffered violent assaults at the hands of anti-papist mobs on the streets of Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. Ken is a graphic designer, web developer and co-founder of One True Paranormal, a para-group in southwest Missouri. Beginning in 1889, the basement of Belmont, which served as the main workspace for many enslaved persons, was significantly remodeled with no care given to historic preservation. It was built in 1940 on some of the land near General John Coffees home. A variety of factors have made researching the lives of Belmont's enslaved residents difficult. Belle Mont Mansion is a historic house museum open for guided tours. This area of the property can be accessed from the master bedroom through a large door with a window that leads directly to the courtyard area, which is where the detached kitchen would have been accessed as well. 1569 Cook Lane, Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674 View Map CONTACT Site Director: Ninon Parker Museum: 256- 381-5052 Email: bellemontmansion@gmail.com Weddings should be a symbol of love and unity. The property is located just south of Tuscumbia and west of US Route 43 at 1569 Cook Lane. Some visitors say that the building . Jones says her new title is one she holds . If such locales have tragic histories, this is all the more reason to reimagine them in ways that both recognize and overcome that past. What county in Alabama had the most slaves? One was a bluish light, the other one looked golden. You can imagine me trying to picture my great aunt doing this, haha! Its also not as if Dixie estates were the only sites where acts of brutality were committed by one group of Americans against another. Belle Mont Mansion - Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area It was the centerpiece of a 1,760 acre cotton plantation and had one of the largest slave populations in the state. But fewer probably know that it . The Mitchell family sold Belle Mont and 33 of the surrounding acres to their friends Isaac and Catherine Baker Jones Winston, who were also from Virginia, in 1833. Tell Us About Your Experience(s) at Belle Mont. Mr. Winston was a cousin of Dolly Madison, Patrick Henry, and Isaac Cole, who was a personal friend and secretary of President Thomas Jefferson. It remained in the Winston family for over a century, and is currently used as a historic house museum open for tours by appointment. The property is located just south of Tuscumbia and west of US Route 43 at 1569 Cook Lane. We also dont need to police their repurposing. Plantation Home Tours in Alabama | Getaway USA - The Arizona Republic What do you think? Top ways to experience Belle Mont Mansion and nearby attractions Florence, Muscle Shoals Multi-Attraction Pass 2 Attractions & Museums from $25.00 per adult Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Tour in Sheffield Alabama 72 Recommended Walking Tours from $20.00 per adult The Raptor, High Rope Course and Zipline Tickets, Wheeler Lake KOA 1 Join now to unlock comments, browse ad-free, and access exclusive content from your favorite FDRLST writers. Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville TN: Horses, History, Wine We have located just two first-hand accounts of slavery at Belmont. It remained in the Winston family for over a century, and is currently used as a historic house museum open for tours by appointment. Belle Mont Mansion is located outside of Tuscumbia. Click "thumbs up" if you think its haunted, or "thumbs down" if you think its all just a tall tale. It was then purchased by two women who in 1890 started a college which evolved into Belmont University. The other residents seem to tolerate it OK, but I hate it. Do not use all capital letters. My wife and I went to the mansion and learned of its peculiarities from the informative guide person. Moreover, are the perpetrators of our historical-cultural cleansing so naive to think their children and grandchildren wont do the same thing to them, who have fostered and encouraged a paradigm of national seppuku? Before you visit ANY local real haunt, make sure to acquire the appropriate permits and/or permissions, and be respectful of privately owned properties. Belle Meade plantation takes a deeper look into the lives of its slaves Admission: Adults $6; students, seniors, military $5; and children 6-18 $3. Over the years, this historic mansion has been restored to its original pre-Civil War appearance. Welcome to mystery411 Haunted Belle Mont Tuscumbia page. He is the author of The Persecuted: True Stories of Courageous Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands. In. If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know! And in the process, these attacks have unintended economic consequences on working-class Americans. All rights reserved. Strange are there actually any African Americans who have memories of the antebellum period, given that it ended 160 years ago? Located just outside Tuscumbia in Colbert County, the mansion is one of a few . The 7 Best Plantation Day Trips And Tours In Alabama - OnlyInYourState Built between 1828 and 1832 in the Jeffersonian style, Belle Mont was originally the home of Dr. Alexander Mitchell, who quickly sold the building to one Isaac Winston in 1833. The house is listed on the National Historic Registry (#19820223). Administrative use only. Visitors to this page: 3,182 I mention this because Gay Mont was his home. Belle Mont Mansion | Tuscumbia AL - Facebook Sold by the Acklen family in 1887, the house went to a developer who began one of Nashvilles early suburbs. Moreover, the entire country was once the land of American Indians, and a good deal of it deceptively or violently taken from them. The tell when I was growing up was that the book 13 Alabama Ghosts held a tell from that house. 3. Contact the museum for current rates, policies, and an application. Simply by virtue of ones social justice warrior credentials and alleged victimhood status, these people deputize themselves the cultural police of our history, our language, and now apparently our wedding venues. During the 1960s, star-crossed lovers camped inside the rotting mansion in the woods, and the home has long been the site of drunken high school parties. To avoid this, be sure to get in touch with the property owners before visiting a haunt, and respect their hours of operation, local regulations, and rules for visiting at all times. When i was 17 years old, Belle Mont Plantation house was in very bad shape and had not had any restoration done to it yet. At this time, the family decided to move to a different location but continued to hold Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations in the mansion. Magnificently sited on a commanding hilltop, Belle Mont is one of early Alabama's crowning architectural achievements.. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. We might also remember that many of the most celebrated and visited historical sites in our country are Southern manors built and worked by slaves: Mount Vernon (itself a wedding venue), Monticello (another wedding venue), and Montpelier (also a wedding venue) among them. Chronological snobbery, as C.S. Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. Gradually, the family gatherings became less frequent until the home was completely abandoned.The abandonment of the home was the largest cause of its deterioration and the vandalism that occurred at Belle Mont. Belle Mont's out-buildings are no longer standing, but several foundations, including that of a slave house, have been located by archeologists. If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know! Intimate and elegant elopement ceremonies are popular at Belmont Mansion! The abandonment of the home was the largest cause of its deterioration and the vandalism that occurred at Belle Mont. BG Joseph Lynch Martin Jr. (1740-1808) - Find a Grave Memorial The celebration of a Plantation Christmas is racist, the letter reads. Group of women standing outside Belle Mont Mansion. Black people dont have happy memories of the antebellum period and plantations, where our ancestors were beaten and tortured, said senior campaign director Jade Magnus Ogunnaike. Located just outside Tuscumbia in Colbert County, the mansion is one of a few Palladian-style houses in the Deep South. ?????? Belle Mont was erected in 1828 for a physician from Louisa County, Virginia, Dr. Alexander Williams Mitchell. In each society and in each generation slaves adjusted and . Its just really weird that we both saw this happen at the exact same time. The coalition said the event celebrated white supremacy by ignoring the enslaved people who labored at the cotton plantation. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. General Martin retired to his Belle Mont plantation at Leatherwood, which he purchased in 1796 from Benjamin Harrison V of Berkeley Plantation. Belmont Mansion (Tennessee) - Wikipedia Then you maybe talk to family members and realize everyone feels the same way. Three years later, during the middle of the. Belle Mont Mansion Tuscumbia, Alabama 65.4 miles from Tupelo, MS. A former slave plantation, it is believed to be haunted by slaves that lived and died here and also possibly by the ghosts of its former owners. Belle Mont Mansion is being restored and partially furnished to reflect the antebellum, or pre-Civil War, time period. The modern application of this practice is also redolent of any of those ancient heresies that are uncomfortable with the complicated reality that vice and virtue, spiritual and material, co-exist within the human experience. Moreover, the entire. Intimate and elegant elopement ceremonies are popular at Belmont Mansion! How Did Slaves Get To Alabama? - CLJ Haunted Places in Tupelo, Mississippi Belle Mont Mansion (Tuscumbia) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go Visit BelmontMansionEvents.com to review options to Elope in Nashville at Belmont Mansion. A tour of this Nashville plantation tells the story . I havent asked in years the last I remember I think I may have heard it was being restored but privately owned and with no plans to open to the public. I know someone who used to volunteer at Belle Mont, which is open for tours, and she said the house was definitely haunted by a woman, possibility a former mistress or daughter who once lived in the house. According to census records, Mitchell enslaved 115 people at the cotton plantation. View all AHC Owned Historic Houses & Museums. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. The organization behind this growing movement, Color of Change, indicts vendors for using words like breathtaking to describe plantations. The first slaves arrived to Belle Meade in 1807, and as decades rolled on, the number of slaves tripled to 136 of by 1860 based on the 1860 census record. Surely, we do not want to pretend these places dont have a violent, racist past. He was not buried on the property as many legends say but in the Winston Family Cemetery in Tuscumbia as was his wife Catherine who died July 25, 1884. She said that at times, she, and others, would smell a floral scent like a womans perfume and get a cold feeling for no reason as if in the presence of a ghost. I was born and raised in Tuscumbia. Slaves in the plantation generations were members of what Berlin calls "slave societies," where slavery was the primary source of labor. So all the people who work at these historic plantations, regardless of their race, sex, or income, must suffer the economic consequences of what feelings their employers history might provoke. Owning 1,680 acres of cotton and corn, Dr. Mitchell became known as one of the largest planters in the area before he quickly sold the mansion and the surrounding land one year after its completion. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. I was amazed at the huge floor joist under the house, then I had that feeling someone had walked up behind me, I thought it was Ronnie, at that time I noticed some graffiti that had been put there, and asked Ronnie what he thought about, but when I turned around, Iwas there by myself. complete with original and period furniture, artwork and statuary. Wesley Thompson of Bethel Colbert Missionary Baptists Church also signed the letter. Small items like dimes and nails are moved. All submissions made to The National Paranormal Society, for the purposes of data analysis, article or editorial publication, team, individual or service listing, or any other submission category not listed become the property of the NPS. He has a bachelors in history and masters in teaching from the University of Virginia and a masters in theology from Christendom College. At Belmont, several extended families lived in slavery over the course of several generations. The Conway family purchased the property in 1670 and it remained in the family for 120 years. Violence against blacks and other disenfranchised groups have occurred across our nation's landscape, many in popular and well-trod locales, North and South, East and West. The property remained in the family until 1941 and in 1983 the house and 35 acres was donated to the State of Alabama by the Fennel family. It has a staff of three: a site director, curator, and tour guide. Plantation Christmas celebrations should be canceled. Just one if many weird, cant explain it things that have happened here. The answer will always be a mystery. 2008-2023 AlabamaHauntedHouses.com. Belle Mont Mansion By Ken Weigandin Ashley Ann Lewis, Haunted Locations Belle Mont was erected in 1828 for a physician from Louisa County, Virginia, Dr. Alexander Williams Mitchell. Affordable Nashville Elopements start here! Blue Star Museum: Belle Mont proudly offers free admission to active duty military personnel and their families between Memorial Day and Labor Day. In its zealous desire to right previous wrongs, this goes too far in the other direction, and in the process, undermines the historical fabric of our nation. Advertised as an event where people can experience the "hospitality of the Old South", "A Plantation Christmas" was held at the Belle Mont Mansion on Sunday evening. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Stay safe. By the following year, in 1890, all the houses occupied by enslaved Blacks on the estate had been destroyed, leaving no physical presence for interpretation. Now, thats poetic justice. Marble bust of Helen Keller. Please note: It is your responsibility to acquire appropriate permissions before investigating any location listed on this site. Belle Mont was built for Alexander Williams Mitchell, who grew up in Louisa County, Virginia, only 25 miles from Jefferson's home at Monticello. It also reflects the vulnerability of American businesses to the whims of leftist protest movements. A mural of the Clotilda adorns a concrete embankment in Africatown, a community near Mobile founded by Africans illegally transported to Alabama aboard the slave ship. Heading south about to pass by the Belmont sign, and not having said a word in at least 15 Min, my son asks a question pointing precisely in the direction of the house, not visible in the daytime, let alone at pitch black night, Daddy, who is that man? to which I reply, What man? This celebration clearly ignores the perspective of those who experienced Belle Mont as a forced labor camp., Slavery hard to teach in Cotton State of Alabama, elementary educators say. It is best to play gospel or Christian radio in your house 24/7 to make them move on. You feel things passing by you. We went back there, and I finished the project, with help from all was involved. Slave child's doll inside Belle Mont Mansion. Just outside the city of Tuscumbia, the 700+ acre Cane Creek Canyon Nature . Following the death of his wife Alexander Mitchell remarried and sold the plantation to Isaac and Catherine Winston and moved to Philadelphia in 1833. Slavery Plantation Agriculture Robert J. Vejnar, Kennesaw State University Dogtrot Cabin at Belle Mont Plantation Plantation agriculture was a form of large-scale farming that was most prevalent during the colonial and antebellum periods of American history. Plantations represent none of those things, declared a Pinterest spokesman, calling the glamorization of these estates a disrespectful practice. Pinterest visitors who search for plantation weddings or similar terms will now be warned that some results may violate the sites policies, de facto making plantations the equivalent of pornography. Use the "Browse" or "Choose File" button below to select an image to upload along with your comment. I got chills then tried to write it off. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Its important the reality of what happened in these spaces is present, versus a romanticization of human rights abuses..