President's Mansion (University of Alabama)
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President's Mansion
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The President's Mansion in 2007
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| Location |
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
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| Coordinates | 33°12′32″N 87°32′47″W / 33.20889°N 87.54639°WCoordinates: 33°12′32″N 87°32′47″W / 33.20889°N 87.54639°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1841 |
| Architect | Michael Barry |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 72000186 |
| Added to NRHP | January 14, 1972 |
The President's Mansion is a historic Greek Revival style mansion on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It has served as the official residence of university presidents ever since its completion in 1841. The structure narrowly avoided destruction during the American Civil War, making it one of the oldest surviving buildings on campus today. The mansion was added to National Register of Historic Places on January 14, 1972, due to its architectural and historical significance.
The history of the President's Mansion began in 1838 when the university trustees set apart funds for a residence suitable for the president of the young institution. While the plans for the university and its already completed buildings had been designed by William Nichols in the late 1820s and early 1830s, he had left the state and was busy with new projects by this time. The new house was designed by Michael Barry, in a Greek Revival style complementary to the existing Nichols-designed campus buildings. The trustees chose a site adjoining what today is the south side of The Quad, in an area which had been originally designated in the Nichols' plan as the future medical school grounds. Construction on the building began in 1839 and was completed in 1841.
The first occupant of the mansion was Basil Manly, Sr., the second university president. Serving from 1837 until 1855, Manly was widely considered to be a popular president. Nevertheless, he and the trustees were criticized by members of the Alabama Legislature for the "unnecessarily lavish" structure. The next president to live in the house was Landon Garland, whose tenure would see the destruction of the university in 1865. Disturbed by what he viewed as student discipline problems, Garland advocated the conversion of the university over to the military system as soon as he assumed the presidency. As tensions between Northern and Southern factions became heightened in the lead-up to the Civil War, the state legislature finally acquiesced to his request on February 23, 1860. This decision would prove disastrous, as it turned the school into a military target. During the war the university became known as the "West Point of the Confederacy," sending roughly 200 cadets into the field each year.
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