The Frederick House

Dear Journal,

A few months ago my daughter and I went out to take photos of some random old places around east central Alabama and west Georgia.  In our ramblings, we came across an old mansion that my daughter dubbed "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre House" because she said it resembled the house in the movie.  I became very curious about the house and began trying to find out more info on it.  When I finally stopped looking, that is when I stumbled across some more info on it.  Isn't that the way it always is?  When I found the info, I remembered reading about it in a local paper.  It made big news within the state of Alabama because it was a historical landmark.  It was going to be torn down because a church owned it currently and they wanted the space to expand their church parking lot and build a more modern building for some of the church functions.  Public outcry kept the house from being destroyed, but what to do with it was the next problem to arise.  Finally, it was decided it would be moved to some vacant property near Lake Condy and there, sadly, it has sat since 2001, abandoned and run down.  I recently found more about the history and who presently owns it.

Frederick House History:

The Frederick house is by far the most controversial house in recent Opelika memory.  It stood at it's original address at 214 North Street in Opelika for years.  It was moved to rest beneath a large oak tree near Lake Condy.  The large Victorian-style structure and its large columns can be seen from the road.  It is currently sitting there all boarded up.

I have read two different things about the fate of the Frederick house in print.  The town minutes say it is intended to be made into a bed and breakfast and this article online says it is mostly likely going to be made a permanent home for the current owners.  Personally, I vote for the bed and breakfast, so all can enjoy it.

The structure was built in 1900 by James T. Frederick, and it features eight rooms downstairs, five rooms upstairs, eight fireplaces and pine wood flooring.

The home was purchased by Frank and Barbara Whatley in 1971 and eventually willed to Trinity United Methodist Church in Opelika. The church decided the nearby historic home it owned could not be incorporated into its expansion. The issue of destroying or having someone move the house became a hot issue in 2000.  The Price family who currently owns the house paid $1.00 for the house, but it cost $46,500 to move it.  Still for a house of that magnitude and history, it was still a steal in my opinion. :-)

It is such a beautiful house, it would have been a huge loss for Lee County for the house to have been torn down.  I am very happy they decided to keep it, even if it had to be moved, which was another huge undertaking in itself.  To see the pictures of the house being moved, go to this link:

http://www.opelikahighschools.org/id104.html

P.S.  I got this history of the house from this website as well.

Scroll down to the last four photos on this page.  Those are of the Frederick house being moved.

I am so happy this house was saved and there are plans to renovate it.  As I stated earlier, it would have been a huge loss forLee County had it been torn down.  I am a huge history buff and shall be posting more info about the areas around east central Alabama and West Georgia since this is my old stomping grounds.

Later,

Susan