Fairhope, Alabama
Lewis house at 309 S. Ingleside. |
New town home plan. |
RESTAURANT CONVERSION PLAN FELL THROUGH
After plans to convert the old house at 309 S. Ingleside Street into a restaurant by a previous owner fell through (see below), new owners are now proposing a mixed-use development for the property including town homes and some commercial/office space. (A preliminary, informal proposal was presented at the March planning commission meeting.)
In 2019 the city council rezoned the property of descendants of ex-slave Nancy Lewis from R-2 to B-3B to allow for the restaurant; but sources say the covid pandemic possibly contributed to derailing that plan and the property was sold again to current owner WCTT, Llc., according to public records. Will Carlton is the company's agent.
A historical marker was erected on Bancroft Street to Nancy Lewis in 2018: "Nancy Lewis, a widowed ex-Slave sold her homestead in 1895 to the Fairhope Industrial Association. Her acreage was a part of two-hundred acres bought by the Fairhope Founders and Mrs. Lewis having paid taxes on her homestead for many years and proving ownership, became a contributor to the settlement of the Single Tax experiment on the Bluff. She used $4.58 of that payment to buy forty acres where Thomas Hospital stands today."
Bancroft marker dedication ceremony. |
2019 restaurant plan fell through. |
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