Fearn-Garth House

The story

Behind the sketch.

Built for physician Thomas Fearn, this house began as a narrow Federal side-hall residence. In 1849, Fearn hired architect and builder George Gilliam Steele to add two bays, create a center hall, and dress the enlarged house in the Greek Revival style. Fearn studied medicine in Philadelphia, London, and Paris before returning to Huntsville in 1820. He became an influential physician whose published research helped advance the use of quinine in preventing and treating malaria. His medical office occupied the one-story wing on the north side of the house, allowing him what must have been an exceptionally short commute. Fearn served in the Alabama legislature, sat on the University of Alabama's first board of trustees, and participated in banking, cotton trading, and land development. With his brothers, he helped construct a canal intended to connect Huntsville with the Tennessee River and rebuilt the city's early water system. When Fearn sold the waterworks to Huntsville in 1858, the city paid him $10,000 and agreed to provide free water to this house for the rest of his life.

Neighborhood

Twickenham

Book location

Page 46