Twenty-three monolithic columns are all that remain of the largest and finest antebellum mansion ever built in Mississippi. Located on the Windsor Plantation, at one time covering 2,600 acres overlooking the Mississippi River, it contained over 25 rooms, each with its own fireplace and featured interior baths supplied with water from a tank in the attic. On the main floor were the master bedroom, a bath, two parlors, a study, library, and dining room. The kitchen, located in the basement, had two dumbwaiters for tansporting food to the upper floors. The basement also contained a schoolroom, on-site dairy, several storage rooms, a commissary, and a doctor's office. The third floor contained a bath and nine bedrooms and the fourth floor had an unfinished ballroom with a roof-top observatory topping it.
During the American Civil War, the mansion was used by both Union and Confederate troops. Confederates used the observatory as an observation platform and signal station. After being captured, the mansion was used as a hospital and observation station for Union forces. The home survived the war and was a focal point for social gatherings in the area.
Burned to the ground in 1890 by a third-floor guest who left a lighted cigar on the balcony which dropped into a pile of wood chips left by carpenters, all that was left of the mansion were the columns, a few pieces of china, and a set of wroght-iron stairs and portions of the balustrade. The flight of stairs and the balustrade are now used at Alcorn State University's chapel down the road.
For more information, see: Windsor Plantation
 This sketch shows what the mansion looked like before the fire. |
