Click image to enlarge. In 1936, one of America's leading photographers, Walker Evans, happened upon a magnificent plantation house that stood proudly despite the clutter of its current occupant, The Tuscaloosa Wrecking Company. Reflecting not only the state of depression-era America, Evan’s well-known photograph seemed to capture the story of many historic buildings: regardless of how significant they may be, their fortunes fluctuate over time.
Once the center of a prosperous 450-acre plantation, the Drish House (also known as Monroe Place) has seen its share of change over the years. It was completed in the late 1830s, but its transformation into an imposing, hybrid, bracketed Greek Revival/Italianate Villa between 1860 and 1862 resulted in one of Alabama’s most unusual antebellum mansions. The house later became the focal point of Tuscaloosa’s first suburban expansion before taking on a new life as the Jemison School in 1906. It was later leased to the Tuscaloosa Wrecking Company before the City School Board sold the building to the Southside Baptist Church in 1940. When the church contemplated demolishing the Drish House in 1994, the Heritage Commission of Tuscaloosa County convinced the congregation to save the structure. Today this landmark is again an endangered place after years of vandalism, damage by the elements, and a lack of sufficient funds to restore it. A new owner is needed soon to secure its fate and transform it again into a treasured landmark.
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