The Lane House was built in 1853 at the corner of Thach and College Streets in Auburn. It was the residence of several prominent figures in the history of Auburn University. The home was leased in 1873 by Agricultural and Mechanical College of…
When the East Alabama Male College opened its doors in 1859, William James Samford was one of the first eighty students to enroll. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Samford enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army where he was soon promoted…
A professor of natural science and one of the original trustees of the East Alabama Male College, he also taught chemistry and developed a “Prophylactic Fluid” which was widely used as a disinfectant and antiseptic by Civil War surgeons and…
James Ferguson Dowdell served during the Civil War as the organizer and commander of the 37th Alabama infantry regiment. After the war, he assumed the presidency of the East Alabama Male College from 1866 to 1870.
Henry Clay Armstrong was a student at the East Alabama Male College prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. After becoming a lawyer, he enlisted and became a captain in the Confederate Army where he served until the end of the war. During…
Before the outbreak of the Civil War, Yancey was a fiery orator and politician who ardently defended slavery and secession. Representing Chambers County during the Alabama secession convention, he voted for the state to leave the Union and during the…
The emancipation of slaves, a widespread labor shortage, and the collapse of the Confederate financial system all coalesced to bring the cities of Auburn and Opelika to ruin at the end of the Civil War. It would be ten years before a new home would…
On July 10, 1864, Major General William T. Sherman ordered Major General Lovell Harrison Rousseau to depart from Decatur, Alabama with approximately 2,500 men. Their goal was to sever the Montgomery and West Point railroads - a vital link for…
After the state awarded East Alabama Male College its charter on February 7, 1856, the Board of Trustees set about securing funds to build an administrative and educational building. The trustees initially allocated $25,000 for the facility, but the…
Formerly known as the city of Girard, Phenix City, Alabama (along with Columbus, Georgia) was the location of one of the last land battles of the Civil War. On April 16, 1865, Bvt. Major General James Harrison Wilson swept through Auburn and Opelika…
The city of Opelika, Alabama was incorporated on February 9, 1854. Because of the many rail lines that snaked through the city, warehouses were built during the war to store cotton and other goods. When General Lovell Harrison Rousseau’s men…
After the end of the Civil War, newly freed African-American men and women constructed Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church on what is today known as Baptist Hill, skirting East Thach Avenue. Lonnie Payne, a white land owner, deeded the property to a…
This historic home that sits on what is now South College Street was the site where the 14th and 18th Alabama regiments were mustered in 1861. William F. Samford, known as the “Penman for Secession” for his nationally published diatribes on…