Fairhope, Alabama
UPDATED: Photos added.
THREATENED BY DEVELOPMENT?
At the weekly 'Tea For Two' presentation at the History Museum last week, local attorney and history buff Kenneth Niemeyer talked about the 52 Ingleside Street house (corner of Ingleside and Fairhope Avenue) he grew up in ... and a special monument the original owner erected near there in 1928.
Thomas Hunter Molton was a successful Birmingham real estate businessman Neimeyer said, but after his wife Lizzie died and his own health began to fail, decided to move to the warmer Gulf Coast climate around 1920.
Molton: "From the day I reached Fairhope ... I began to improve. Better to be here than die in Birmingham."
NEAR FAIRHOPE/INGLESIDE INTERSECTION
Initially he purchased a lot close to the bay but found the soil too poor for growing fruit so he purchased 20 acres at the northeast corner of Fairhope Avenue and Ingleside Street where he built a house he called 'Lone Pine' after the lone tall long leaf pine growing there at the time.
Molton planted a pecan orchard behind his house in the area of what is now Grand Blvd. ... and in 1928 erected a 10' concrete monument in it, inscribed "In Memory of Old Prince a Faithful Horse 1896-1929" ... and another on the other side to his dog called 'Alba.'
Niemeyer said his grandparents purchased the house from Molton in 1931 and he grew up there -- and in his father's house next door to the north. The Pat Lee family owned the original house from 1973 until recently.
From a Molton biography:
"Mr. Molton was a
Grover Cleveland Democrat; a Methodist, a member of the Knights of
Pythias, Knights of Honor, and a Mason. On his removal to Birmingham, in
1886, he entered at once into the real estate business, basing profits
on commissions, and not on speculations. He confined himself to handling
city property, and his firm, T. H. Molton & Co., was one of the
largest and most successful agencies in Alabama at the time. Possessed
of natural mechanical talent, and in line with his business, he
directed the construction of many of the most prominent buildings in
Birmingham, notably, the Jefferson theatre, the Mercy home, the Hillman
hospital, the Molton building on Second avenue, and the Hotel Hillman.
He was a director of the First National bank, one of the strongest financial institutions in the South, and one of the most persistent, successful, and influential of the strong-willed, progressive men who built the “Magic City.”
Thomas Hunter Molton died October 14, 1931 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama."
MONUMENT RE-RELOCATION POSSIBLE
Later, the monument was moved to its current location behind a small house on another lot about 100 yards or so north. No animal remains are under it's current location, Niemeyer said.
It can be seen looking south across the vacant field from adjacent Estella Avenue (see photo at top).
Since some kind of new development could occur on private property there, a proposal has been made (by a member of the Ingersoll family) to move the monument back to the original Lone Pine property (52 N. Ingleside) ... or to the city right of way at the intersection, or even to the museum, Niemeyer said.
The new owners of the Molton house are interested he said, but as far as the Times knows no one with the city has been contacted yet about the possibility of moving it to city property.
(All of the area is FST Colony property.)
UPDATED: Photos added.
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| Molton horse monument |
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| Monument viewed from Estella Avenue today. |
THREATENED BY DEVELOPMENT?
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| Niemeyer at museum last week |
Thomas Hunter Molton was a successful Birmingham real estate businessman Neimeyer said, but after his wife Lizzie died and his own health began to fail, decided to move to the warmer Gulf Coast climate around 1920.
Molton: "From the day I reached Fairhope ... I began to improve. Better to be here than die in Birmingham."
NEAR FAIRHOPE/INGLESIDE INTERSECTION
 |
| Current monument location |
Molton planted a pecan orchard behind his house in the area of what is now Grand Blvd. ... and in 1928 erected a 10' concrete monument in it, inscribed "In Memory of Old Prince a Faithful Horse 1896-1929" ... and another on the other side to his dog called 'Alba.'
Niemeyer said his grandparents purchased the house from Molton in 1931 and he grew up there -- and in his father's house next door to the north. The Pat Lee family owned the original house from 1973 until recently.
From a Molton biography:
 |
| Thomas Molton |
He was a director of the First National bank, one of the strongest financial institutions in the South, and one of the most persistent, successful, and influential of the strong-willed, progressive men who built the “Magic City.”
Thomas Hunter Molton died October 14, 1931 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama."
MONUMENT RE-RELOCATION POSSIBLE
 |
| Molton house today |
It can be seen looking south across the vacant field from adjacent Estella Avenue (see photo at top).
Since some kind of new development could occur on private property there, a proposal has been made (by a member of the Ingersoll family) to move the monument back to the original Lone Pine property (52 N. Ingleside) ... or to the city right of way at the intersection, or even to the museum, Niemeyer said.
The new owners of the Molton house are interested he said, but as far as the Times knows no one with the city has been contacted yet about the possibility of moving it to city property.
(All of the area is FST Colony property.)
 |
| Possible new Fairhope/Ingleside intersection location. |
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