Allred House & Cemetery

Allred House and Cemetery. . , A veteran of the War of 18 12, Major William Burt Allred and his wife, Jane O. Park Allred, moved from Newton County, GA to Pike County, AL in 1839. Construction began on their new home in 1840 and was completed in 1843. The home is one of the oldest continually occupied dwellings in Pike County. Reportedly built by a skilled black carpenter, the Greek Revival house is made of hand-hewn post and beam construction. The two story “I” house was built with a double pen arrangement, with two front doors placed to give the illusion of a central hall house. The single front door with sidelights and central hall are part of a later alteration. The double square columned front portico, second floor balcony, and back shed rooms are original. Interior walls and ceilings are covered with hand planed planks. The wainscoting has 19-inch wide boards. The cut soapstone chimneys were quarried locally. A detached kitchen was later joined to the main house. The house was painted white when built and became the center of the Allred farm and a local landmark on the Three Notch Trail. The Allred House was listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on August 25, 2011., The Allreds had one child to reach maturity, Dr. John Park Allred. He studied with Dr. D.M. Williams in Troy in the 1940s, served in Co. A of the 57th AL Inf. CSA, and studied medicine at Georgia State Univ. in Augusta after the war. Dr. Allred and his wife, Mary Antoinette Fielder Allred, lived with his parents at the Allred House before building a house near Troy. After the Allreds, the house had several owners, including the Pete Brown family. During the 1980s, the house was a group home for boys, known as the AGAPE House. A great-great-grandson of the original owner purchased and restored the home in 2010. The Allred Cemetery was established in 1840 with the burial of Margaret C. Allred, daughter of William B. Allred and Jane O. Park Allred. The cemetery is located 1/2 mile southeast of the Allred House. Family members, neighbors, and descendants of former slaves were buried there for over 60 years. Surnames include: Allred, Cowart, Hill, McSwain, Meadows, Purdue, Stanley, and Urquhart. It is a private family cemetery and is closed to the public. The cemetery was listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register on July 1, 2011.