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Interesting facts about the Windsor Ruins

Interesting facts about the Windsor Ruins

I recently photographed the ruins of Windsor Mansion. Here are some interesting details about the mysterious site that I didn’t know

  • The house was built in 1861, and survived the US Civil War, but was burned to the ground in 1890 as a result of worker tossing a lit cigar (or cigarette) into renovation rubble.
  • Windsor Mansion was the largest and most elegant home in Mississippi, with 29 columns 40 feet tall atop 10-ft plinths.
  • 23 columns are still standing on the site today
  • Mark Twain visited the house and watched riverboats on the Mississippi River from the cupola.
  • Smith Coffee Daniell, the property owner who commissioned and oversaw the building of the house, which took two years to build at great expense, died only a few weeks after its completion. He was only 34 years old.
  • The house was constructed mostly by slave labor, built using bricks manufactured in an onsite kiln.
  • Below is the only known sketch of the home in tact, drawn by a Union officer from Ohio named Henry Otis Dwight. It appears that he drew the home from the shade of a nearby giant oak tree that still stands on the location. It’s also said that the widowed homeowner Catherine Daniell took refuge under a large oak (possibly the same tree) to watch in horror as her home burned to the ground in 1890.
  • When the house burned, only some pieces of china, the columns, and ironwork balustrades and staircases survived. The house was not insured. (Source)
Windsor Mansion Drawing by Henry Otis Dwight
Windsor Mansion Drawing by Henry Otis Dwight

My video tour of Windsor Ruins


Unloved and Forgotten: Fine art Photographs of Abandoned Places — My new book of photographs of abandoned places available on Amazon. (As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission from qualifying purchases).

Cover of photographer Keith Dotson's book "Unloved and Forgotten: Fine Art Photographs of Abandoned Places"
Cover of photographer Keith Dotson’s book “Unloved and Forgotten: Fine Art Photographs of Abandoned Places”

Fine art photographs for sale

You can buy a fine art print of this photograph on my secure e-commerce site here. Sizes are available up to 40 x 60 inches on 100% cotton paper.

Mysterious column with plants growing from its capital, black and white photograph by Keith Dotson. Click to buy a fine art print.
Mysterious column with plants growing from its capital, black and white photograph by Keith Dotson. Buy a fine art print.

Thanks for reading!

Be sure to visit me on FacebookInstagram or Pinterest, or on my website at keithdotson.com.

~ Keith

Sources

Legends of America

Wikipedia

NatchezTraceTravel.org

Mississippi Department of History and Archives

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