Historic Architecture in Alabama: A Guide to Styles and Types, 1810-1930

Discover the stories behind Alabama’s timeless structures.

Robert Gamble outlines in detail the primary architectural currents and styles that have surfaced in Alabama over the years and defined the state's built landscape. The structures and styles, all well-illustrated,range from folk houses and early settlement buildings to railway terminals, churches, libraries, municipal and university buildings, palatial private mansions, and modest homes. Structures from every period and every major stylistic era―Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Romanesque and Mission Revival, and the Richardsonian―are documented meticulously, along with examples of early―Modern buildings, including Alabama's only Frank Lloyd Wright structure and skyscrapers from the Chicago school.

More than 200 photographs, supplemented by sketches, plans, and etchings, provide the general reader and the design professional with images of Alabama architecture in all its variety and range. Many illustrations offer rare views of buildings long since demolished. A substantial glossary of architectural terms and a thorough bibliography enhance this standard sure to be welcomed anew by any lover of old buildings, whether weekend rambler or serious student.

Robert S. Gamble is State Architectural Historian for the Alabama Historical Commission and the author, with Chip Cooper and Harry Knopke, of Silent in the Land. In 1989 Gamble was awarded the prestigious Antoinette Forrester Downing Award by the Society of Architectural Historians for excellence in a published survey of historic buildings.