The Lindsey-Fitzgerald House

The Lindsey-Fitzgerald House. . Martin Lindsey bought the Pollard Mill later known as the Lindsey Mill Company. Several hundred employees worked at the Mill during the early 1900s, among them Joe Douglas, head of the woodlands, and Percy Watson, accounting. Mr. Lindsey handled the accounting. He built this house with virgin yellow pine lumber (headboard, tongue and groove ceilings and walls) produced and milled in Pollard circa 1890. He lived here until the family moved to Mobile. Originally there were three additional rooms on the east wing. During world war two these were dismantled and the lumber sold because of a shortage of building materials. The architecture is in the Victorian style. The Queen Anne entry door is original. W.J. "Willie" McLellan, Postmaster 1901-1930, lived here until his death. Mr. Jim Pringle bought the house and his sister, Mrs. Bessie Fitzgerald, and her family lived here through the war years. Mrs. Fitzgerald, known for her hospitality, allowed her neighbors the use of her cistern, the coldest artesian well in town, to cool their milk and watermelons. In those days, everyone had a milk cow and a garden. This was prior to most families having ice boxes or refrigeration. During the 1960s the Carey Lisenby family lived here. In the early 1990s the Finlay family acquired the house and began to restore it, receiving an award from the Escambia County Historical Society in 1995. The jerk jaw roof on the west side of the house, the cupola, the porches (originally wrapped around three sides of the house) and the sand dollar (a symbol of a Christian home) were all indicative of the Victorian style.