Powhatan House

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Title

Powhatan House

Description

Powhatan House was located where the current Chaplain's house, Phillips House, now stands. The original house was built in 1868 for Mr. Robbins. There is no image of Robbins’ original house, “Waverly.” The next owner, Dr. Dabney, had the house remodeled and changed the name to “Powhatan” to commemorate his origins in Powhatan County, Virginia. It was “a mere shell” in 1876 when Edmund Kirby Smith bought the house and renovated it. His ten children grew up in the house and it was the site of many local stories. It burnt in 1891 and he built a new house (pictured here) on the same site. Kirby-Smith died in 1895 and his daughters, Miss Bessie who was Postmistress, and then Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Crolly, (“Miss Carrie”), ran it as a boarding house. Many summer visitors stayed at Powhatan year after year; for nearly 40 years it was one of the choice places to spend the summer in Sewanee. After Miss Carrie and Mrs. Hale died in 1941 and 1943, respectively, the University acquired Powhatan. It was used for offices and lodgings for theological students while St. Luke's was being renovated. Powhatan House burned in 1956.

Date

1891

Type

Still Image

Alternative Title

Waverly

Bibliographic Citation

Carpenter, J. (Ed.). (2007). Sewanee Ladies. Sewanee, Tennessee: Proctor's Hall Press.

Chitty, A. B. (1978). Sewanee Sampler. Sewanee, Tennessee: The University Press.

Gailor, C. (1970). Old Sewanee Houses; The First Fifty-Years, 1860-1910. Unpublished manuscript, Sewanee: the University of the South, Sewanee.

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Powhatan House

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Citation

“Powhatan House,” Online Exhibitions and Digital History, accessed March 19, 2024, https://omeka.sewanee.edu/document/316.

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