First White House of the Confederacy - Montgomery, Alabama
Posted by: 
xptwo
N 32° 22.585 W 086° 17.997
16S E 565852 N 3582375
Originally located on Bibb Street near the Alabama River, the First White House of the Confederacy was moved to its current site near the Alabama State Capitol in 1919. The original location is now the site of the Montgomery Skatepark.
Waymark Code: WMDEBJ
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 01/02/2012
Views: 6
On February 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as the President of the Confederate States of America. On February 21, 1861, the Provisional Congress authorized the leasing of an Executive Mansion. The house they rented had been built between 1832 and 1835 by William Sayre. It was then located at the corner of Lee and Bibb Streets. The owner at the time, Colonel Edmund S. Harrison, rented the house, completely furnished and staffed, for $5000 a year, a large sum which caused some comment at the time. During the short time it was the White House, Mr. and Mrs. Davis hosted many social events.
The house survived the war and passed through other hands. In 1897, the newly organized United Daughters of the Confederacy undertook the the preservation of the house, and a White House Association was formed in 1900. Mrs. Jefferson Davis gave furniture and other items to the association for use in furnishing the home. They were finally able to purchase the House in 1919. The previous owners wanted to keep the land, so property was bought and the house was moved to its present location at 644 Washington Avenue at the corner of Union Street. It is next door to the Alabama Department of Archives and History Building.
The following is from the museum web page (
visit link)
In 1919, Governor Thomas E. Kilby signed into law a bill appropriating $25,000 for the purchase and relocation of the House and created a White House Commission to administer it. By this time, the old home was a boarding house for trainmen and was in sad condition. The White House Association was able to purchase the House for $800 with $5.00 down. The White House Commission purchased a lot in the shadow of the Capitol and a Montgomery city engineer, after photographing and documenting it inside and outside, skillfully dismantled the House by thirds, numbered the lumber, moved it the ten blocks to its new site and reassembled it.
Judging from the front-page newspaper accounts, spread over several days, the dedication ceremony at the opening of the restored First White House of the Confederacy on June 3, 1921, must have been one of the most thoroughly relished and enjoyable occasions in Alabama history. Hundreds of persons participated in an elaborate parade which ended on the south lawn of the Capitol grounds, where the ceremony took place. The White House Association gave the House, fully refurbished, to the people of the State of Alabama. The Governor accepted it and there was a banquet that night with a reception following, in which thousands of Montgomerians, Alabamians, Southerners and Americans participated.
Legislation passed in 1923, and amended since, provides that the First White House of the Confederacy is to be managed by the White House Association. The State of Alabama maintains the House and grounds. The Association owns the things in the House and its members are “the keepers of the relics” and the arbiters of taste in maintaining the interior and all matters concerning the House.