That photo with the man’s face in the upper right hand corner is really cool! And all the other photos are too! Thanks for finding them and sharing them with us!!!
Forget the ghosts. I love getting to see the inside of the home. The architectural details are fabulous. The arched pocket doors…If only I could have those!
House had beautiful features – a shame it was torn down. I have heard ghosts (if they exist) won’t hurt anyone, they just hang out in a place that is meaningful to them.
That is the fate of most of our old lovely homes. Down they go for some modern stuff with no character.
Nancy C Lea
Lens flare or just dust in the air. They had to do long exposures back then and anything moving, such as a dust-cloud would appear to be some kind of a mist. Like cloud-formations, you can “see” almost anything you like.
Bonnie
The photo of the winding staircase, right side on the wall, appears to be a lady’s head with large hat on.
William Mann
The long exposure time used to capture detail in poorly-lit settings (notice the unlit light bulbs) + a careless host, assistant, or even photographer who walked into frame then quickly realized his error = the image of the man. Agree with previous comment that other “ghostly” image appears to be dust or lint. Also agree that the real story here is the beautiful architecture.
Jonathan Baggs
I wrote a history of Rocky HIll a few decades ago.
Gordon McBride lived across the street and built his home with the bricks, front doors, columns and several other architectural features from the original Saunder’s home in the early 1960s. I asked him why he had to tear it down and he said it was just beyond saving by 1961/62 when he came into possession.
Mr. McBride was a successful businessman and actually still lives a few blocks away from me today. He is in his mid-90s now. My father, 92, also is still alive and with my mother still live across the street from the modern home built of Rocky Hill.
We have one of the original massive wooden beams that served as my childhood study table/bench that was in our family den for many years. My brother owns that particular piece now and lives in another city in Alabama.
Mr. McBride raised two boys and a girl in the home he built. Whenever their parents were away at a function for the evening, his youngest son, who was a friend of my middle brother, would come stay with us because of the strange occurrences he said still resided within the architecture of the place.
I would play “Civil War Solider” in the spacious front yard of the home and always was fascinated by the slave-made bricks that made up the curved lamp post in the yard close to the street. It’s still there to this day.
When I ventured out to the original site some 26 years or so ago, I used the “then & now” method of photography to illustrate the changes to the property. Twin cedar trees in back of the house, evident in the 1930’s era photos were still there but had grown quite large and flanked a modern swimming pool. The modern home built on top of where Rocky Hill stood is nothing spectacular and quite disappointing considering the history of the property.
A retired state senator lived there.
Down the knoll and to the west of the home was the old cemetery but grown up and it took a bit of effort to fight through the brush to reach it. Several soldiers and Saunders relatives are buried there, including two graves of a man and woman (I’m sorry I can’t remember and I’d have to find the original story to know) but I was struck that they were lovers in life and in death, a small tree at the head of each grave had grown into one tree which seemed quite symbolic to me.
Scattered about the property and halfway down the knoll from the home were old bits of column bases and ironwork, etc., that had once stood proudly as part of the original home.
I’m in my 50s now and this was all a long time ago, but obviously, having grown up literally across the street from what was Rocky Hill, it is a property and story dear to my heard.
Best,
Jonathan Baggs
Jonathan Baggs
dear to my “heart.”
Gail
Thank you for your historic information. So sad these old homes get into such a state of disrepair and can’t be restored. They were so beautiful and unlike what is built today. Again, thank you for your input.
[…] built a commodious residence three miles west of Courtland which was named Rocky Hill in 1832. The land was first bought by Mr. Norment of Virginia and a log cabin stood on the hill […]
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So sad we lost a fine example of southern history
That photo with the man’s face in the upper right hand corner is really cool! And all the other photos are too! Thanks for finding them and sharing them with us!!!
How sad it was torn down!
Thanks for sharing.
Hopefully they are nice like the one we have.
Forget the ghosts. I love getting to see the inside of the home. The architectural details are fabulous. The arched pocket doors…If only I could have those!
House had beautiful features – a shame it was torn down. I have heard ghosts (if they exist) won’t hurt anyone, they just hang out in a place that is meaningful to them.
Erica Caldwell Guthrie
I hate this house was demolished.
That is the fate of most of our old lovely homes. Down they go for some modern stuff with no character.
Lens flare or just dust in the air. They had to do long exposures back then and anything moving, such as a dust-cloud would appear to be some kind of a mist. Like cloud-formations, you can “see” almost anything you like.
The photo of the winding staircase, right side on the wall, appears to be a lady’s head with large hat on.
The long exposure time used to capture detail in poorly-lit settings (notice the unlit light bulbs) + a careless host, assistant, or even photographer who walked into frame then quickly realized his error = the image of the man. Agree with previous comment that other “ghostly” image appears to be dust or lint. Also agree that the real story here is the beautiful architecture.
I wrote a history of Rocky HIll a few decades ago.
Gordon McBride lived across the street and built his home with the bricks, front doors, columns and several other architectural features from the original Saunder’s home in the early 1960s. I asked him why he had to tear it down and he said it was just beyond saving by 1961/62 when he came into possession.
Mr. McBride was a successful businessman and actually still lives a few blocks away from me today. He is in his mid-90s now. My father, 92, also is still alive and with my mother still live across the street from the modern home built of Rocky Hill.
We have one of the original massive wooden beams that served as my childhood study table/bench that was in our family den for many years. My brother owns that particular piece now and lives in another city in Alabama.
Mr. McBride raised two boys and a girl in the home he built. Whenever their parents were away at a function for the evening, his youngest son, who was a friend of my middle brother, would come stay with us because of the strange occurrences he said still resided within the architecture of the place.
I would play “Civil War Solider” in the spacious front yard of the home and always was fascinated by the slave-made bricks that made up the curved lamp post in the yard close to the street. It’s still there to this day.
When I ventured out to the original site some 26 years or so ago, I used the “then & now” method of photography to illustrate the changes to the property. Twin cedar trees in back of the house, evident in the 1930’s era photos were still there but had grown quite large and flanked a modern swimming pool. The modern home built on top of where Rocky Hill stood is nothing spectacular and quite disappointing considering the history of the property.
A retired state senator lived there.
Down the knoll and to the west of the home was the old cemetery but grown up and it took a bit of effort to fight through the brush to reach it. Several soldiers and Saunders relatives are buried there, including two graves of a man and woman (I’m sorry I can’t remember and I’d have to find the original story to know) but I was struck that they were lovers in life and in death, a small tree at the head of each grave had grown into one tree which seemed quite symbolic to me.
Scattered about the property and halfway down the knoll from the home were old bits of column bases and ironwork, etc., that had once stood proudly as part of the original home.
I’m in my 50s now and this was all a long time ago, but obviously, having grown up literally across the street from what was Rocky Hill, it is a property and story dear to my heard.
Best,
Jonathan Baggs
dear to my “heart.”
Thank you for your historic information. So sad these old homes get into such a state of disrepair and can’t be restored. They were so beautiful and unlike what is built today. Again, thank you for your input.
[…] Haunted Rocky Hill Castle, Lawrence County, Alabama ca. 1939 (Library of Congress) […]
[…] built a commodious residence three miles west of Courtland which was named Rocky Hill in 1832. The land was first bought by Mr. Norment of Virginia and a log cabin stood on the hill […]
Was Alex Bush the photographer? His photographs of of Alabama houses are sublime.