Pond Spring, The General Joe Wheeler Home

12280 Al Highway 20, Hillsboro, AL 35643
Pond Spring, The General Joe Wheeler Home Pond Spring, The General Joe Wheeler Home is one of the popular Museum/Art Gallery located in 12280 Al Highway 20 ,Hillsboro listed under Gift Shop in Hillsboro , Historical Place in Hillsboro , History Museum in Hillsboro , Museum/art gallery in Hillsboro ,

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More about Pond Spring, The General Joe Wheeler Home

The 50-acre site includes a dogtrot log house built around 1818, a circa 1830 Federal-style house, the 1870s Wheeler house, eight farm-related outbuildings, two family cemeteries, an African-American cemetery, a small Indian mound, a pond, a boxwood garden, and other garden areas.

Native-Americans populated this region of the fertile Tennessee Valley for many generations. Concentrations of artifacts discovered on the site by archaeologists show evidence of three periods of habitation, the earliest about 5000 years ago.
The original European-American settlers, John P. Hickman and family, came to the site in 1818. At that time, Pond Spring consisted of 1760 acres and several log structures. The Hickmans brought with them 56 African-American enslaved workers to clear the land, plant cotton, and build their homes.
The Sherrod family bought Pond Spring in 1827 and expanded the larger of two log dogtrot houses into a clapboard Federal-style house. Both the 1818 Hickman cabin and the Sherrod house stand today. General Wheeler came to Alabama during the Civil War in 1863, and met young Ben Sherrod's widow, Daniella. They married in 1866, and built their home here during the 1870s. The Wheelers expanded the plantation to 17,000 acres.

General Wheeler was a national figure, serving as a Confederate Cavalry officer, a member of the U. S. House of Representatives, and a U. S. major general during the Spanish-American War. One of Wheeler's daughters, Miss Annie, served as a Red Cross volunteer nurse in three wars and lived in the house until her death in 1955.

The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1993, General Wheeler's descendants donated Pond Spring to the state through the Alabama Historical Commission. AHC has restored most of the out-buildings and has restored the Wheeler House to the period when Miss Annie Wheeler displayed her father’s uniforms, medals, and memorabilia from the Civil War and Spanish American War. The house contains many significant artifacts that belonged to General Wheeler and his family. The collection includes books, military artifacts from the Civil and Spanish-American Wars, and antique furniture, to family portraits, photographs, and Victorian-period decorative arts.

Staff members lead tours of the Wheeler House five days a week; grounds and other buildings are also open.

Admission:
Adults : $8
Seniors, military and college students : $5
Children 6-18: $3 (Children under 6 are free)
*Group rates available, please call in advance.*

Hours of Operation:
Wednesday - Saturday 9am - 4pm (tours at 9, 10, 11am, 1, 2 and 3pm); Sunday 1pm - 5pm (tours at 1, 2, 3 and 4pm). Closed Monday, Tuesday and all state holidays. Please call 256-637-8513 or email wheelerinfo@hiwaay.net to schedule a guided tour for your school or group.

Contact Us:
Pond Spring - The General Joe Wheeler Home
12280 Alabama Highway 20
Hillsboro, Alabama 35643
Acting Site Director: Kara Long
Phone: (256) 637-8513
Email: pondspringdirector@gmail.com

Find Us:
On Alabama Highway 20 (US Alt. 72) three miles east of Courtland, in Hillsboro, Lawrence County.

Be sure to check out the The Friends of General Joe Wheeler Foundation at http://generaljoewheelerhome.com/

Map of Pond Spring, The General Joe Wheeler Home