Borden Oaks

Borden Oaks is a historic plantation house and historic district located near Greensboro in Alabama, United States. The property is significant as a surviving example of an early nineteenth-century plantation residence in the Alabama Canebrake region, an area known for its concentration of historic agricultural estates and associated buildings. It was originally called Locust Lawn and was established in 1835 by John Scott Gray and his wife, Martha Thompson Cocke Gray, on land provided by Martha's father. The house's name changed after Martha Gray remarried Richard Benjamin Borden on November 3, 1845. Borden was a widower from Carteret County, North Carolina, and the property subsequently became known as Borden Oaks. The history of the house is closely connected with the Gray and Borden families. John Scott and Martha's son, John Ruffin Gray, died in 1862 during the Battle of Fredericksburg, linking the property's family history to the wider upheaval of the American Civil War period. Architecturally, Borden Oaks is a two-story, wood-frame Federal-style house with a hipped roof and a five-bay front elevation. Its principal facade is organized around a central two-level porch and aligned upper and lower entrances. The doorways incorporate sidelights and transoms based on a design published in Asher Benjamin's 1833 architectural pattern book, The Practice of Architecture. A two-story rear ell extends the house while maintaining its general scale and proportions. The property has also undergone a notable preservation history. The original front porch was removed sometime after 1924, and its columns were reused on another house near Greensboro. Several feet were cut from the bottoms of the columns to adapt them to the later structure. When that house was demolished late in the twentieth century, the columns were returned to Mary Esther Borden Coleman, a descendant and then owner associated with the property. Her son, Bestor Wynne Coleman, stabilized the house, restored its exterior, and oversaw the reconstruction of the porch. Because the original column proportions had been altered, new paneled bases were made to restore the portico's intended appearance. Borden Oaks was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 1994. The listing formed part of the Plantation Houses of the Alabama Canebrake and Their Associated Outbuildings Multiple Property Submission. Its significance therefore rests on architectural character, family and regional history, and the survival and restoration of a representative Alabama plantation complex rather than on commercial branding or consumer products. No operating company, commercial product line, public-market listing, or corporate parent is identified in the available reference material.

Borden Oaks began as Locust Lawn, a plantation property established near Greensboro, Alabama, in 1835. John Scott Gray and Martha Thompson Cocke Gray built the principal house on land that Martha had received from her father. The construction date places the house within the early development of the Alabama Canebrake's plantation landscape and helps explain its Federal architectural character. John Scott Gray died on October 19, 1835, the same year the house was built. Martha remained unmarried for a decade before marrying Richard Benjamin Borden on November 3, 1845. Borden was a widower who had come from Carteret County, North Carolina. Following their marriage, Locust Lawn became known as Borden Oaks, the name by which the historic property is now identified. The family's history continued through the nineteenth century. John Scott and Martha's son, John Ruffin Gray, died in 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg. This episode places the property within the human and regional consequences of the Civil War, although the available account does not document a specific military action at the house itself. The house is a two-story frame structure in the Federal style. It has a hipped roof, a five-bay front elevation, and a centrally placed two-tiered porch. The upper and lower front doors are framed by sidelights and transoms. Their design is associated with a published architectural model in Asher Benjamin's The Practice of Architecture, issued in 1833. A two-story ell at the rear repeats the main block's overall proportions and contributes to the building's historic form. The front porch experienced a substantial alteration after 1924, when it was removed. Its columns were installed on another residence near Greensboro, but their lower sections were shortened to fit the replacement building. After that later house was demolished late in the twentieth century, the columns were returned to Mary Esther Borden Coleman, who was a descendant and owner connected with Borden Oaks. Her son, Bestor Wynne Coleman, stabilized the historic house and carried out exterior restoration. The porch was reconstructed using the recovered columns; new paneled bases were fabricated because the original lower portions had been cut away. Borden Oaks received formal historic recognition through listing on the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 1994. It was included in the Plantation Houses of the Alabama Canebrake and Their Associated Outbuildings Multiple Property Submission, a framework recognizing related historic resources in the region. The property's documented importance derives from its architecture, its association with the Gray and Borden families, and its place in the historic plantation landscape of west-central Alabama. It is not documented as a commercial brand, operating enterprise, or consumer-facing product business.

• 1994

  National Register listing

  [1]Borden Oaksen.wikipedia.org

  Borden Oaks was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 7 as part of a multiple-property submission covering plantation houses and outbuildings in the Alabama Canebrake.

• 1924

  Front porch removed after 1924

  [1]Borden Oaksen.wikipedia.org

  The original porch was removed sometime after 1924, and its columns were reused on a nearby Greensboro-area house.

• 1862

  Death of John Ruffin Gray at Fredericksburg

  [1]Borden Oaksen.wikipedia.org

  John Scott and Martha's son, John Ruffin Gray, died during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

• 1845

  Property takes the Borden Oaks name

  [1]Borden Oaksen.wikipedia.org

  Martha Gray married Richard Benjamin Borden on November 3, and Locust Lawn subsequently became known as Borden Oaks.

• 1835

  Construction of the original house

  [1]Borden Oaksen.wikipedia.org

  John Scott Gray and Martha Thompson Cocke Gray built the house, then known as Locust Lawn, on land provided by Martha's father.

• 1835

  Death of John Scott Gray

  [1]Borden Oaksen.wikipedia.org

  John Scott Gray died on October 19, shortly after the house was built, leaving Martha Gray a widow.

• Porch reconstruction and exterior restoration

  [1]Borden Oaksen.wikipedia.org

  After the reused columns were returned to descendant and owner Mary Esther Borden Coleman, her son Bestor Wynne Coleman stabilized the property, restored its exterior, and rebuilt the porch with newly fabricated paneled column bases.

A preserved Federal-style plantation house and historic district representing the architectural and family history of Alabama's Canebrake region.

1. 1Borden Oaksen.wikipedia.org