Russell Family Historic District

Russell Family Historic District is a historic district in Alexander City, Alabama. The district is a collection of houses built by the family of Benjamin Russell. Russell and his children founded the Citizens' Bank of Alexander City in 1900, followed by the Russell Manufacturing Company in 1902. The company, along with B. B. Comer's Avondale Mills, turned Alex City into one of the textile centers of the South.

Russell Family Historic District
Location35, 65, 85 N. Central, 228, 334 Robin Hill, 101 Russwood, Alexander City, Alabama
Coordinates32°56′36″N 85°57′43″W
Area50 acres (20 ha)
Built1913 (1913)
Architectural styleColonial Revival, Classical Revival
NRHP reference No.05000839[1]
Added to NRHPMarch 21, 2006

In 1913, the family built several houses on a hillside overlooking the mills. Benjamin's youngest son, Ben, built a Classical Revival house with a hip roof and façade dominated by four columns with Corinthian capitals. Benjamin's sister, Sally, built a brick, Classical Revival residence with doubled Ionic columns. Thomas Commander Russell, Benjamin's brother who served as Alex City's mayor from 1907 until 1947, built a tan brick Craftsman-style house.

In 1937, the second generation of the family began to build on the family land. Elisabeth, Benjamin's daughter, built a Classical Revival house inspired by the "Tara House" from the film Gone with the Wind. The next year, Thomas Russell built a Colonial Revival near-replica of George Washington's Mount Vernon. In 1946 Robert Russell built a house with decorative, wrought iron railings evocative of houses in New Orleans and Monterrey, Mexico.[2]

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.[1]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. King, Pamela Sterne; Anderson, Christy (August 31, 2003). "Russell Family Historic District". National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 20, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017. See also: "Accompanying photos". Archived (PDF) from the original on December 20, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
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