Sunnyside

The Historic Witherington Farm Home, built in 1856.
in Conecuh County, Alabama

Witherington Farm, located some seven miles from Evergreen on Highway 83 North, has been added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.  The Witherington Family was so notified recently by W. Warner Floyd, executive director of the Alabama Historical Commission.

Warner said: "The Alabama Register is a prestigious listing of historic, architectural and archaeological landmarks. These selected Alabama landmarks are worth of both recognition and restoration.

The Witherington Farm's historic name is Sunnyside Farm. Its historical significance includes the fact that the house is a good example of a type or style of structure and the farm is a good example of a working farm in rural Alabama and is practically unchanged since the early part of the 20th Century. All the outbuildings are still standing and in fairly good shape and some fences from early days are still there.

The house was built in 1856 and served as the family home until the death of the late J. H. Witherington. It is currently used as a vacation home and is owned by Mr. Ed Witherington and the Estate of J.H. Witherington.

The single story building has brick pillars as a foundation and is constructed of heart pine lumber. The interior features pine beams and studs and is ceiled with pine throughout; tongue and grooved type, now covered with sheetrock. It has a pyramidal roof that was originally shingled, but has had a tin cover since the 1930’s. It has two dormer windows, one east and one south, and two of the four original chimneys remain.

A unique feature of the house is that it has front, rear and side porches, all of which have banister railings between brick pillars and were always called "galleries". The main entrance is on the east porch with two others, one on the south into a rear bedroom and the other on the west into rear of the central hall.

There are 6 mantels of the plain type. The doors are 4-panel. The earlier China doorknobs have been replaced with deadlock hardware for security reasons. The floor is of narrow pine.

Notes from Family : The Historic Witherington home near Lyeffion is credited to William Leander & Eliza (Johnson) Witherington, circa 1856. William Leander Witherington (1827-1890) was the third generation Witherington in Conecuh County. He was the son of Daniel Witherington and Melissa King and the grandson of William Witherington, Jr. and Sarah 'Sally' Stanley, who settled in Conecuh about 1819, coming from East Feliciana Parish, La. Both Daniel and his father, William Witherington, Jr., served in the War of 1812 and Daniel is said to have been a participant in the Battle of New Orleans.