Preserving the Heritage at the Magee Farm with Battle Reenactments part of Alabama Heritage

In 1848 Mr. Jacob had a farmhouse and out building constructed with black slave labor for his family. The construction of the farmstead and buildings was of such high quality that from that date to the present day the house needed minimal help or maintenance from that day to the present. The two story home was the home of 4 different families over the decades before being designated a living history and museum site for the city of Kushla. The Magee Farm is one of those places that you’ll need to include on your Alabama travel guide itinerary.

Besides the main house there was also a commissary; post office, bath home and school room on the grounds. Even though the only buildings still remaining are the homestead and the schoolroom – the heritage of those times lives on with the exhibits that are presented for you to see. It was the largest private residence for several miles when it was completed.

The primary homestead was designed with some interesting designs. There’s a front veranda that has two sleeping room doors leading onto it. One of these bedrooms has a door on the veranda but no entryway into the main portion of the house. It was designed to provide travelers and guests that weren’t family members a safe room to sleep without them being able to enter the family’s private home. The other bedroom has a door on the veranda but also one that opens into the formal dining area. Obviously this room was used by family members that came to visit or acquaintances that they wanted to have access to the interior of the house.

There’s also a parlor room that could be closed off with either a curtain or by shuting the sliding pocket doors. The foyer of the home opened into both the front and the back veranda. The school room was attached to the rear porch. This room is now the museum for the property. On the second floor are two big bedrooms, each with their own fireplace. For warmth, the house has a total of 5 fireplaces. Imagine cutting enough firewood to maintain 5 fireplaces running all winter!!

The cookhouse was out back but connected to the remainder of the house by the rear veranda. It was common to have the cookhouse removed from the home proper to keep the heat out of the main house. Next to the cookhouse was the outhouse so when the outhouse needed to be used it could be quite a walk in the dark or cold to get to the outhouse when nature called.

This day, it is on the most popular Alabama attractions. The farmstead is also the location of the Living History and Battle Reenactment – both in the spring and the fall.

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