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503 S. Oak Street
Florence, Alabama - Lauderdale County
(North Region)
A two-story dwelling believed to be the oldest brick house in Florence will be demolished to make way for an apartment complex. Possibly constructed as early as 1849 (although some believe that the date may be later), the place served as a house of ill repute during the 1870's to around 1900. A local preservation group acquired the building but then sold it to someone committed to stabilizing it. After fifteen years of stabilization, the house was again sold but this time to a developer wanting to tear it down.

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I know it's the oldest brick house in Florence. I also know it was used as a well known brothel back in the day. Anybody got anything to add?
I think someone is renovating right now.
-----> Laissez les bon temps rouler <-----
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quote:
Originally posted by rexkwondo72:
It`s still there. On a side note did you ever notice that the apartment complex down below looks like a POW camp? I mean I expect to see Col. Hogan tunneling out the other side one day.
Haha, now that you mention it, it does remind me of Stalag 13. The earlier posts nola I think were prior to the apts behind the house being built. It is a great looking house. I'd like to see the inside.
some replies from my facebook page...

It was owned by a woman named Kate who ran a brothel. All the famous old pictures of the President visiting the Shoals in the old black car working on the TVA project - the car belonged to Kate.
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http://www.encyclopediaofalaba...imedia.jsp?id=m-3314 - in 1933 President Roosevelt visited the dam and used her open air touring car when he visited the cities. My mom owns another house that was Kate's. She bought it for one of her girls who had a child.
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Well at last count the Tommy and John van zandt team owned it. Tommy is the guy who used to d.j. for one of the radio stations who was the first in this area to welcome Elvis Presleys' music and Tommy actually interviewed Mr Presley in rare form(when Elvis was just starting out),so I find it hard to believe, if they still own it, they would ever sell it for money and risk someone destroying this landmark for the sake of greed.
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John Van Sandt is renovating it. I'm not sure if I spelled his last name correctly, but it's the guy who owns the Xpress Oil place. He contacted me to find out about the history of the place a few years ago, just after he purcha...sed it. At that time, he planned to use the upstairs as an office, and was considering devoting one of the two downstairs rooms to a museum-like exhibit detailing the history of the house.

They have the dates wrong on the brothel: Kate was living there and had girls living/working there with her at least through the Depression.
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By the way, census records confirm the dates. Oh, and if you're particularly interested in the Oak Street house - or Kate, for that matter - you can go to the genealogy/local history room at the FloPatch public library and ask Lee to see the file on that house. You'll find some of my notes that Joy referenced above included in there. Smiler
If you contact the history department at UNA, they can possibly put you in contact with someone who did a masters thesis on Kate and the house or perhaps point you to a copy of the thesis in the library.

I have done quite a bit of research on the Negley family in Florence, and I understand from the thesis' author that Charles Westcott Negley was a regular patron of the house before his marriage.
I know for a fact that the house is not owned by the Van Sandt's. It is owned by the company that owns the apartment complex. After trying to donate the home to a historical/preservation group, with no success, their plans were to use the home as an administration office for the complex. I do not know if they plan to follow through with those plans at this point. I really wish they would and save that part of history.
FV,

I checked it (albeit a quick check-not my regular full blown work) before I posted just to make sure Ken and Tommy had not made a deal that I was unaware of. The delta link that you have listed is for property in Block 401 and the deed reference listed there is from 1995. Just taking a quick look at the references there I believe that is the "armory" building on Tennessee Street. It recites Burnett and Reeder subdivision of Block 401 and that is a subdivision that fronts on Tennessee Street.

The subject property (the house) is in Block 542 and last deed of record is Oak Hollow, LLC, but to be safe I'll give Ken a call later today and see what's what.
This is taken from the "Historic Walking Tour of Florence" brochure. I'm posting it in regards to the oldest brick house issue.

"450 N Court Street. This fine home, known as Wakefield(Named for George Washington's ancestral home after which it was patterned), was built in 1825. It is reputed to be the first brick house in Florence. Note its many outstanding features."

http://www.facebook.com/photo....2&id=653243503[/IMG]
quote:
Originally posted by beternU:
In Fort Smith, Arkansas, the tourism center is a renovated house that was a brothel in older, wilder days. The Florence/Lauderdale tourism folks have been planning a new place. If they have not gotten too far along, maybe they would consider this very historic site as a home.
Beturn: do you actually think that the tourism bureau or Florence city leaders would consider something like this? NO, they would rather spend a lot of money to build some million$+ building in what has been and will be forever the center of a flood plain.

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