Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Humphreys–Rodgers House

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Area
  
less than one acre

NRHP Reference #
  
77000211

Phone
  
+1 256-564-8100

Built
  
1848 (1848)

Opened
  
1848

Added to NRHP
  
3 August 1977

Humphreys–Rodgers House

Location
  
109 Gates Ave., Huntsville, Alabama

Architectural style
  
Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival

Address
  
109 Gates Ave SE, Huntsville, AL 35801, USA

Similar
  
Alabama Constitution Village, Weeden House Museum, Southern Railway System D, EarlyWorks Children's History M, Huntsville Museum of Art

The Humphreys–Rodgers House (also known as the David C. Humphreys House) is a historic residence in Huntsville, Alabama. Since its construction in 1848, it has been expanded and altered at least three times, saved from demolition twice, and moved once. The house was built by David Campbell Humphreys, a four-term member of the Alabama House of Representatives and anti-secessionist during the Civil War.

The house was originally a two-story, hall and parlor design with a gable roof. Prior to 1861, an additional room was added to the west of the entrance, creating a three-room plan with a central hall. Many Greek Revival details were added to the interior around this time. The house was extensively modified around 1886, when Augustus D. Rodgers bought the house from Humphreys, who had been appointed a judge on the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. A one-story, two-room ell was added to the rear of the east side of the house, adding an attached kitchen and dining room. The previous gable roof was replaced with a hipped roof, and a two-story hipped roof portico was added to the façade, giving the house its current Colonial Revival appearance. By 1913, the ell had been replaced with a central, two-story ell that featured a one-story portico with fluted columns.

By the 1970s, the house was vacant and in disrepair, and the encroaching development of a Coca-Cola bottling plant and the Von Braun Center threatened its demolition. Efforts by preservationists led the bottling plant to purchase the house and renovate it for use as offices and a Coca-Cola memorabilia museum. Part of the effort led to the house's listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1990 the bottling plant needed to expand, and the house faced demolition once again. The house was purchased by the Alabama Constitution Village and moved to a site one block from the museum. Today, the house is owned by EarlyWorks, who use it for event space.

References

Humphreys–Rodgers House Wikipedia