Morning Tour: 9-12pm
Price: $40 adult; $30 student
Aldan Hall
901 7th Ave N
Circa 1840
Built by lawyer John Shelby Topp, the house originally was a Federal structure of two rooms over two with a central stair hall. The transom and sidelights around the double front doors upstairs and down could be removed easily to facilitate air circulation. Planter James Sykes bought the house in 1854, enlarged it, and added the Greek Revival portico with two fluted octagonal columns. The tour features a Civil War diary and a Brilliant Period Cut Glass collection of distinction. The home was lovingly restored in the 1980s by the late Allen Wayne Bryan and updated in 2020 by his wife Betty.
Home of Mrs. Betty S. Bryan
Kidd’s Tavern
8439 Hwy 12 E
Circa 1826
Built as a tavern and stagecoach stop by a Mr. Thomason, there were two rooms downstairs and two upstairs with the wide central “dog trot” hall. Sold to the Kidd family, it was operated as a tavern and coach stop until after the Civil War. Stories abound of those wild frontier days. The next owners, the Wood family, used the home as a seminary for training Cumberland Presbyterian preachers. Today the Aaron Lorenz family lives very comfortably in this charming and historic home.
The home of Mr. & Mrs. Aaron Lorenz