About 10 miles west of Port Gibson, Mississippi, lies the ruins of Windsor, which was completed in 1861. The owner, Mr Smith Coffee Daniell died just a few weeks after the completion of Windsor at the age of 34. In a couple of years, the Civil War intruded on this serene landscape. Confederates used the house as an observation post, and after the Battle of Port Gibson, the house was used as a Union hospital.
The house survived the war only to be destroyed in 1890 by a dropped cigarette. The resulting fire consumed all but the 29 fluted brick and plaster columns and the elaborate ornamental ironwork. The ruins were placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1971.
This is an interesting picture and a fascinating story to go along with it. It must have been something to see in its day.
ReplyDeleteEd, there is certainly and interesting story behind this house, and the history seems to linger among those old columns that still stand after all these years.
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