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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

Granny's House: 1939

1939. "Purnell House, Jeff Davis Street, Selma, Dallas County, Alabama. Porch with colonnettes." Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size.

1939. "Purnell House, Jeff Davis Street, Selma, Dallas County, Alabama. Porch with colonnettes." Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size.

 

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741 Jeff Davis Avenue

According to Google this is 741 Jefferson Davis Avenue (not street) today.

I had a witty comment to go with the picture but it was probably unfit to publish.

Not quite colonnettes

In my experience, the half-round architectural features attached to the wall of the house at the inside corners of the porch are called engaged columns, and the vertical strips at the far corners of the house are called pilasters (or perhaps in this case, pilaster strips). None of these features, including the freestanding columns at the front of the porch, quite measures up to the rigorous standards expected of trained architects using the Classical orders, but they're not bad for a simple Greek Revival house like this one.

Renamed J.L. Chestnut Jr. Boulevard

Selma Votes To Rename Street

Selma votes to rename Jeff Davis street

The Associated Press • January 14, 2009

SELMA, Ala. (AP) — The Selma City Council has voted to change Jeff Davis Avenue to J.L. Chestnut Jr. Boulevard in honor of the late civil rights attorney.

The council voted 6-3 on Tuesday to rename the street currently named after Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Chestnut, the city's first black lawyer, defended prominent figures in the civil rights movement. He died Sept. 30 at the age of 77.

The street renamed in honor of Chestnut runs for about two miles.

Copyright © 1997- 2008 The Advertiser Co.

Naunce nuance

Those are pilasters, to be more accurate. A collonette is usually a set of free-standing smaller decorative columns.

Architectural nuance

The author of the original caption was indeed subtle in his or her appreciation of classical architecture. Though the most obvious porch features are the free-standing columns in front, the column-like details that abut the façade itself are indeed called colonnettes, and are far from common in comparison with the columns themselves.

Granny or her architect understood that the devil is in the details and called out all the imps of hell on this one!

Better Days Past

It is a shame what old age, and the Great Depression can do to the ability to maintain a home.

Someone quick!!

Donate a dump truck load of fill dirt and a Bobcat!
I'm afraid the next rain is going to wash out the exposed water pipe and sidewalk precariously perched.

My dream house!

Looks like it needs some restoration, but I LOVE it! Now, I hope no one posts that it was bulldozed or burned!

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