This home was built between 1906 and 1920, in the Queen Anne Style,
similar to the N. S. Hare home, next door, built by the same
contractor from Brewton, Alabama (see below). The home was
originally built by local attorney Charlie Hybart for his wife, Lucy
Burns Hybart. Lucy Burns's father was Mayor of Selma. The home was
actually a wedding gift to Lucy from her father. She and Charlie
Hybart had a bitter divorce. Charlie Hybart subsequently married
Marion McDuffie Hybart.
The house was sold to Vernon and Dot Hendrix. Dot Hendrix was the
first WAC to enlist in Alabama and was in Eisenhower's headquarters
in North Africa. The next residents of the house were Mr. and Mrs.
A.T. Lewis. Lewis's wife was a sister to Dot Hendrix. A.T. Lewis was
a surveyor. The house was subsequently purchased by Al Brewton of
Monroeville, owner of B,D, & S Services, who occupies the house
today with his children.
The second floor of the house was unfinished, according to local
resident Norman Barnett. The house was extensively renovated between
1957 and 1991.
NICHOLAS
STALLWORTH HARE HOME:
The Stallworth home on Pineville Road was built between 1901 and
1904 by Probate Judge Nicholas James Stallworth (June 30, 1834 –
June 10, 1911). It is said that the contractor who built the house
was from Brewton, and that he built several homes in Monroeville
between 1900-1920, most having the characteristic turret on the
front. The home has been continuously occupied by Nicholas James
Stallworth's descendents since his death in 1911.
About Nicholas James Stallworth & Descendents: Nicholas James
Stallworth was born in Evergreen, Alabama. He moved to Pineville
Road, Monroe County, in early childhood. He settled in Bell's
Landing, then a thriving river port on the east bank of the Alabama
River, north of Claiborne. He was a Civil War veteran, a farmer, and
a merchant. In Bell's Landing, he operated a store and grist mill
and sawmill. He represented Monroe County in the Legislature from
1886 to 1900. In 1892 he was elected Probate Judge of Monroe County,
and moved to Monroeville. His first home on this site burned. He was
elected for six two-year terms as Probate Judge, leaving office in
1904. He raised eleven children, the youngest of these being reared
in this house.
Shortly before his death in 1911, Judge Stallworth sold the house
and six acres to his daughter, Mary Ellen Stallworth Hare and her
husband, Francis Williams Hare. The house has been continuously
occupied since this time by the Hare family.
Francis Williams Hare was a prominent Monroeville attorney, and a
Spanish war veteran. He served a term in the Legislature beginning
in 1919. He then served as Circuit Judge of the 21st Judicial
Circuit, then composed of Monroe, Conecuh, Escambia and Baldwin
counties from 1928 until his death in 1952. Mary S. Hare developed
the formal Victorian Gardens and the interesting gold fish pool and
rock garden with a fountain/waterfall. Judge Hare grew camellias and
had over a hundred camellia bushes of many prize varieties.
Their son, Nicholas Stallworth Hare, now resides in the house with
his wife, Mary. He is a Monroeville attorney, a former State
Representative, and a World War II veteran. He has practiced law in
Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, and Monroeville, and has served as
Chief Trial Attorney in the Attorney General's office and as
In-House counsel for the Alabama State Docks.
Title to the house is now in the name of his son, Nicholas
Stallworth (Chip) Hare, Jr., who is also a lawyer, and a law partner
with his father. Chip Hare is married to the former Dawn Wiggins of
Brewton, who is also an attorney and whose father, Judge Wiggins,
recently retired as Probate Judge of Escambia County. Mrs. Dawn Hare
is famous for her role as Mrs. Stephanie in the Monroe County
Heritage Museums Production of "To Kill A Mockingbird." The Hare's
have two children, Nicholas and Eli.
THE
JAIL, SKINNER FURNITURE, CONSIGNMENT SHOP:
The two story brick building on the west side of the courthouse is
the county jail, built in 1854. It was replaced in 1859 with what we
commonly refer to today as "the old jail." This one was replaced in
1957 by the present jail on North Mount Pleasant Street. It is the
rear of the building on the right hand side that was the original
old jail.
Both the 1852 courthouse and both old jails were constructed with
brick made from local red-clay deposits and believed to have been
formed by slave labor. The brick were irregular in size and
relatively soft due to inferior locally built brick kilns. Both
jails are still standing and are the only known ante bellum
structures in Monroeville.
After the new jail was built in 1859, the old jail was used as at
various times, a warehouse, drug store, Masonic Lodge, and law
offices. Q. Salter, owner of The Monroe Journal, used this building
until it moved into its present quarter on Hines Street in 1859.
MONROE
COUNTY BANK BUILDING/ON THE
SQUARE GIFT SHOP:
The first Bank in Monroe County was the Monroe County Bank which
opened in 1904 on the ground floor of the then vacated 1852
courthouse. The bank moved into its new two-story brick building on
the southwest corner of the square in 1909. Harper Lee's father, A.
C. Lee, had his law office in this building, first upstairs, then in
offices downstairs.
MONUMENT
TO ATTICUS FINCH:
This monument was erected in honor of the legendary lawyer, Atticus
Finch, by the Alabama Bar Association in 1997. It is the first Legal
Milestone erected by the Alabama Bar Association, and today serves
as a meeting place for tour groups and as a point of interest in the
history of the Courthouse Square.
