HHC Tour Guide

Huntsville
History Tour

Directions

PUT TEXT DIRECTIONS HERE

To get to the Perkins House from the Helion Lodge:

Continue on Lincoln Street and notice the home on the right with the small front porch and two sets of steps going up both side.

Stop in front of the Perkins Home at 401 Lincoln Street.

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Site Description

401 Lincoln Street SE
Perkins House, ca. 1815

This home was originally built in the Federal Style and one can see from the bricks in front that it has been added on to.

Peter Perkins was appointed to the Mississippi Territorial Legislature in 1809.

A later resident of this home was Madame Jane Hamilton Childs. She was the head of what is now known as Athens State University in nearby Athens, Alabama. During the Civil War it was a girls school and legend says that she stood on the steps of Founder's Hall and showed a letter to Union Troops during the incident known as the Sack of Athens. She informed the soldiers that it was a letter from President Abraham Lincoln instructing them not to burn the school. The school was left untouched and no one knows to this day if the letter was authentic.

For more information about
the History and Architecture of Huntsville,
visit

The Huntsville History Collection

or The Heritage Room at the
Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.

About

Huntsville History Tour

Thanks to:
John Malone, Narrator,
Lite 96.9 WRSA
Jacque Reeves, Narrator
Nancy Rohr, Narrator
Nate "Adams" Cholevik, Producer,
Lite 96.9 WRSA
Deane Dayton, App Developer,
Huntsville History Collection

Narration & Tour Design © 2014
Huntsville Madison County
Convention & Visitors Bureau
500 Church Street NW, Suite One
Huntsville, AL 35801
800-Space-4-U (256-772-2348)
Huntsville.org

Web App & Images © 2014
Huntsville History Collection
HuntsvilleHistoryCollection.org
webmaster@huntsvillehistorycollection.org

Tour version 3.0
TourGuide version 1.0

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Madame Jane Hamilton Childs

"Local lore states that in 1862 Madame Jane Hamilton Childs, the headmistress from a prominent Virginia family, was charged to oversee the now Athens State University during the Civil War. At the height of the war, Union Army Colonel John B. Turchin and his troops rode into Athens after suffering an ambush just north of the Tennessee line. When they reached the campus of the then girls' college, the Colonel ordered his men to halt and rest their horses."
"The headmistress bravely met Turchin at the door of Founders Hall as he demanded that the structure be evacuated so it could be burned to the ground. Childs didn't say a word but produced a letter and handed it to him. Turchin read the letter once, drew himself to attention, saluted, and rejoined his troops ordering them to guard the campus during the entire siege of Athens. Legend has it that Childs, through her Virginia connections, had handed Turchin a letter signed by President Abraham Lincoln instructing that the school be saved at any cost."

Rights: AthensPlus.com

More information about Madame Jane Hamilton

HJAC Exterior 1972

401 Lincoln Street SE

Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA

By: Carey Cooper

Rights: Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA, Dept. of Archives/Special Collections, M. Louis Salmon Library, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL.

Date: c1972

HJAC Exterior 1972

401 Lincoln Street SE

Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA

By: Carey Cooper

Rights: Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA, Dept. of Archives/Special Collections, M. Louis Salmon Library, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL.

Date: c1972

HJAC Exterior 1997

401 Lincoln Street SE

Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA

By: Harvie Jones

Rights: Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA, Dept. of Archives/Special Collections, M. Louis Salmon Library, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL.

Date: c1997

HJAC Exterior 1997

Outbuilding built c. 1990, J&H Arch. - H.Jones.

Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA

By: Harvie Jones

Rights: Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA, Dept. of Archives/Special Collections, M. Louis Salmon Library, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL.

Date: c1997

HJAC Exterior 1997

401 Lincoln Street SE

Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA

By: Harvie Jones

Rights: Architectural Collection of Harvie P. Jones, FAIA, Dept. of Archives/Special Collections, M. Louis Salmon Library, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL.

Date: c1997

HABS Exterior 1934

Historic American Buildings Survey Alex Bush, Photographer, September 12, 1935 VIEW OF FRONT, FACES WEST. HABS ALA,45-HUVI,13-1

Historic American
Buildings Survey

By: Library of Congress; lex Bush

Rights: Historical American Buildings Survey

Date: c1934

HABS Exterior 1934

Historic American Buildings Survey Alex Bush, Photographer, September 12, 1935 VIEW, SOUTH SIDE OF HOME. HABS ALA,45-HUVI,13-2

Historic American
Buildings Survey

By: Library of Congress; lex Bush

Rights: Historical American Buildings Survey

Date: c1934

HABS Interior 1934

Historic American Buildings Survey Alex Bush, Photographer, September 12, 1935 CLOSE- UP OF DOOR DETAIL, LOOKING N. E. HABS ALA,45-HUVI,13-3

Historic American
Buildings Survey

By: Library of Congress; lex Bush

Rights: Historical American Buildings Survey

Date: c1934

HABS Interior 1934

Historic American Buildings Survey Alex Bush, Photographer, September 12, 1935 DOOR TREATMENT IN HALL, OPENS INTO LIVING ROOM. HABS ALA,45-HUVI,13-5

Historic American
Buildings Survey

By: Library of Congress; lex Bush

Rights: Historical American Buildings Survey

Date: c1934

HABS Interior 1934

Historic American Buildings Survey Alex Bush, Photographer, September 12, 1935 MANTEL IN MIDDLE ROOM ON NORTH SIDE OF HALL. HABS ALA,45-HUVI,13-6

Historic American
Buildings Survey

By: Library of Congress; lex Bush

Rights: Historical American Buildings Survey

Date: c1934

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