Hollowell House

The story

Behind the sketch.

William Dean Hollowell built this house in 1834–35 for his wife, Mary Elizabeth Echols Hollowell. Family histories describe it as a home "built for a bride", although the couple had already been married for several years. Its bricks were reportedly made at Hollowell's Landing on the Tennessee River, and cedar shingles came from the family plantation. The basement is actually a full-height lower story extending beneath the house. The original kitchen and dining room occupied this level, placing much of the household's daily work below the formal rooms and bedrooms. The Hollowells were planters who enslaved people, and the large rear property once included workrooms, storage buildings, a smokehouse, stables, a carriage house, and living quarters for enslaved domestic workers. According to the 1968-1969 Huntsville telephone directory, the house eventually became associated with Benton H. Wilcoxon, who brought permanent indoor ice skating to Huntsville when he opened the Ice Palace in 1959. He donated the rink to the city in 1986, and its successor was named the Benton H. Wilcoxon Municipal Ice Complex in his honor.

Neighborhood

Twickenham

Book location

Page 45