Encore: Humphreys-Rodgers House

THE STORY CONTINUES! DOWNTOWN’S 1848 HUMPHREYS-RODGERS HOUSE

Written by Nancy Wilkinson Van Valkenburgh | Brick photo by Richard Van Valkenburgh Moving photos provided by Hollis-Kennedy Moving Company | Church Street Wine Shoppe on Gates photo provided by Church Street Wine Shoppe

Huntsville has long been a city on the move, with one foot in the future and an eye for great potential on the horizon. But it also honors and celebrates the treasures of its past. Nowhere else in Alabama and maybe even in our nation has a city so successfully reached for the stars while also preserving the architectural heritage of its early days.

This blending of past and present is evident in downtown’s 1848 Humphreys-Rodgers House. It was built as the residence of David C. Humphreys in the Greek Revival style, with an addition in 1861. Augustus D. Rodgers bought the house from Humphreys, who had been appointed a judge on the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. Around 1886, Rodgers extensively modified the house, resulting in a Colonial Revival appearance. In 1913, a central, two-story section replaced the 1861 wing.

The Humphreys-Rodgers House is the only Huntsville building to have the distinction of being saved twice from the wrecking ball in the late 20th century, when American cities were learning to balance progress and preservation. The narrow escapes were in a twenty-year period.

The first near-miss came in 1971, when the vacant Humphreys-Rodgers House was occupied by vagrants who set fire in the floor of one room. At that time, plans were underway to build the Von Braun Civic Center opposite the house on Clinton Avenue. The 1.4 acre site was for sale for a commercial price and it seemed likely the historic structure would be lost.

Several citizens, including the late noted preservation architect, Harvie P. Jones, took an interest and began to explore the only feasible plan for saving the structure: finding a commercial use. They began contacting people who could possibly help. Jack Chambers and Bob Wilkinson (no relation to this article’s author) of the Coca Cola Bottling Company were interested. Their plant was to the west. They bought the house and erected a sign that said “Preserving the good we have IS progress.”

They decided to restore the house and use it for company training and company receptions. Bob Wilkinson became interested in collecting items of Coca-Cola memorabilia and they displayed hundreds of items. It became “The House for Coca-Cola.” In 1977 the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The second near-miss for the structure came in late 1990, when the Coca-Cola Bottling Company needed to open another bottling line. To the dismay of Bob Wilkinson, the only realistic plan required expanding into the historic building. In an attempt to save something of the structure, the company offered it “in pieces” to Historic Huntsville Foundation.

This offer came in mid-December 1990, and required that HHF commit by January 14, 1991–barely a month away–to removing the structure by March 1991. This imposed a breakneck timeline on HHF to find property, financing and purchasers for the reassembled house.

HHF members found a willing contractor, and four possible sites, which they explored simultaneously. They contacted Constitution Hall Village on January 3 to see if the site behind Constitution Hall (now Early Works Museum) would be available. The Board and staff of Constitution Hall Park found a solution by implementing a downtown master plan that had been recently formed to save existing structures. As a result, a new site for the home was found at the corner of Gates Avenue and Fountain Circle. Moving the structure intact would be a major challenge. On January 7, Hollis Kennedy of Hollis Kennedy House Movers felt “it could be moved.” HHF asked the cost for moving the oldest part and he gave a figure much less than HHF’s guess.

The move began on March 27, 1991. The approximately 400 tons of history moved through town just over a half mile from its original location across from the Von Braun Center to its new location on Gates Avenue. Today, it houses the popular Church Street Wine Shoppe on Gates, which serves as a shining example of “adaptive reuse,” in which historic structures are adapted to meet modern needs, remaining useful and thus a little safer from the wrecking ball.

So, as you enjoy a glass of wine or Coca-Cola in the shop at the Humphreys-Rodgers House, enjoy becoming part of Huntsville’s history as well. Give a toast to all the efforts to make our city truly unique and to those who work to save the best of yesterday for today and for tomorrow. n