Click image to enlarge. The “Old Rock House” is a house unlike anything commonly seen in Alabama. Possibly dating before 1842, the house might be the state’s lone surviving example of an early stone dwelling. It might also have region-wide significance as one of but a few extant houses of this kind in the Southeast. With its small upper-level windows, carefully laid native limestone blocks, and twin doorways with elliptical transoms, paneled recessed openings and arched stone surrounds, the rock house looks decidedly out of place in the Alabama landscape. So unique is this dwelling that surveyors with the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) photographed and recorded it in 1935. Today the house remains mostly intact, though time has taken its toll. One corner of the house now leans and vegetation has caused deterioration of the old mortar and the wood windowsills. An encouraging sign is that the current owner is aware of its significance and hopes to preserve it if possible.
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