Forks of Cypress
The Forks of Cypress plantation was established in 1818 by James and Sarah Jackson. This home, believed the design of William Nichols, was one of Alabama's great houses, featuring perhaps the earliest peristyle colonnades in America. Built by skilled African-American artisans in slavery, the Forks stood until June 6, 1966, when it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Its surrounding brick porch with twenty-three brick columns - once plastered with a mix of lime, horsehair and molasses and topped by cypress ionic capitals - remains on limestone foundations.
Irish-born James Jackson, engineer, turfman, merchant, financier, planter, statesman, member of the Cypress Land Company, was a founding father of Florence. He was the major figure en establishing the local textile industry. As President of the Alabama Senate, he was its key advocate of the 1832 Treaty of Cusetta.
Forks of Cypress
The Forks of Cypress plantation was established in 1818 by James and Sarah Jackson. This home, believed the design of William Nichols, was one of Alabama's great houses, featuring perhaps the earliest peristyle colonnades in America. Built by skilled African-American artisans in slavery, the Forks stood until June 6, 1966, when it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Its surrounding brick porch with twenty-three brick columns - once plastered with a mix of lime, horsehair and molasses and topped by cypress ionic capitals - remains on limestone foundations.
Irish-born James Jackson, engineer, turfman, merchant, financier, planter, statesman, member of the Cypress Land Company, was a founding father of Florence. He was the major figure en establishing the local textile industry. As President of the Alabama Senate, he was its key advocate of the 1832 Treaty of Cusetta.