Locust Hill Events

Colonel William Winter built Locust Hill in 1823, with 20 square-feet rooms, hand carved mantels and a Thomas Jefferson style stairway. During the Civil War, the house was used as a Confederate Hospital, leaving lingering bloodstains on the original floors as evidence. Colonel Florence Cornym used the house as his headquarters during the war when he occupied Tuscumbia.

Lawrence Critchell, a friend of Mary Wallace Kirk, visited the house and concluded "This is a place where people have been happy." Mary Wallace lived happily in the house until her death, leaving behind exuberant memories of her family's history in her book Locust Hill. This history recounted here came from her book, printed in 1976 by the University of Alabama Press.

Locust Hill is set back on the property, occupying almost an entire city block, with a long box bordered brick wall to the front door. The original 1823 locust trees have died, leaving descendents of white blossoms each April. The Rather family planted English Boxwoods, maples, mimosas, magnolias and great oak trees on the property.

 

Ronnie Gilchrist, Florence native, is excited to call Locust hill his home. Having grown up in Florence, he is thoroughly enjoying the quaint town of Tuscumbia. After graduating the University of Alabama, Ronnie joined the Air Force to be a pilot. He moved back to the area more than 20 years ago, and made a name for himself as a contractor. Ronnie has done most of the renovations himself while living in the house. He is proud to continue the legacy behind Mary Wallace Kirk and her family, ensuring the old continue to meet the new as Mary Wallace hoped.

Elise Gilchrist, proud owner and event coordinator, feels it was just right for her family to buy the house. "For someone else to have bought the home and tried to hire the work out, it wouldn't have been logical," she said in an interview with Shoals Woman. "We were just the right people at the right time." Having grown up in Sheffield, she has always been familiar with the house. Elise also graduated from the University of Alabama, where she met her husband. Elise has a passion for the house that is required to restore the old home back to it's grandeur. She has often said that the house is not for her, but for the people and the city of Tuscumbia, and she intends to keep it that way.