Bluff Hall is located atop a limestone cliff overlooking the Tombigbee River in Demopolis. The house was built in 1832 by Allen Glover for his daughter, Sarah Serena Glover, and her husband, Francis Strother Lyon. The Lyons used Bluff Hall as a townhouse; they also resided at Bermuda Hill, their plantation near Arcola. This house exemplifies two major architectural trends in the Antebellum South. The original brick Federal-style structure was modified to Greek Revival in the late 1840s by the addition of a colonnaded portico, a large front wing and louvered gallery on a rear wing and white paint. Bluff Hall was documented as part of the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) in 1934 and 1936 and added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1970.
Today, Bluff Hall is owned by the Marengo County Historical Commission and operated as a historic house museum. It contains period clothing, Empire and Victorian furniture, a display of local history and some unusual gadgets in the kitchen area. There is also a herb garden and gift shop.
Bluff Hall is located at 405 N. Commissioners Ave. in Demopolis (Bluff Hall – Google Maps).
Sources: 1) NRHP “Bluff Hall” Nomination Form; 2) wikipedia.org/Bluff_Hall
B&W photograph courtesy U. S. Library of Congress (HABS), Photographer: W. N. Manning, Date: April 3, 1934.