Pond Spring, The General Joe Wheeler Home
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Pond Spring, The General Joe Wheeler Home

The 50-acre site includes a dogtrot log house built around 1818, a circa 1830 Federal-style house, the newly-restored 1870s Wheeler house, eight farm-related outbuildings, two family cemeteries, an African-American cemetery, a small Indian mound, a pond, a boxwood garden, and other garden areas. The original European-American settlers, John P. Hickman and family, came to the site in 1818. At that time, Pond Spring consisted of 1760 acres and several log structures. The Hickmans brought with them 56 African-American enslaved workers to clear the land, plant cotton, and build their homes. The Sherrod family bought Pond Spring in 1827 and expanded the larger of two log dogtrot houses into a clapboard Federal-style house. Both the 1818 Hickman cabin and the Sherrod house stand today. General Wheeler came to Alabama during the Civil War in 1863, and met young Ben Sherrod's widow, Daniella. They married in 1866, and built their home here during the 1870s. The Wheelers expanded the plantation to 17,000 acres. General Wheeler was a national figure, serving as a Confederate Cavalry officer, a member of the U. S. House of Representatives, and a U. S. major general during the Spanish-American War. One of Wheeler's daughters, Miss Annie, served as a Red Cross volunteer nurse in three wars and lived in the house until her death in 1955. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1993, General Wheeler's descendants donated Pond Spring to the state through the Alabama Historical Commission. AHC has restored most of the out-buildings and has restored the Wheeler House to the period when Miss Annie Wheeler displayed her father’s uniforms, medals, and memorabilia from the Civil War and Spanish American War. The house contains many significant artifacts that belonged to General Wheeler and his family. The collection includes books, military artifacts from the Civil and Spanish-American Wars, and antique furniture, to family portraits, photographs, and Victorian-period decorative arts. Guided tours of the Wheeler Home are offered Wednesday - Saturday at 9, 10, 11am, 1, 2 and 3pm; and Sunday at 1, 2, 3 and 4pm. The site is closed Monday, Tuesday and all state holidays. Please call 256-637-8513 or email pondspringdirector@gmail.com to schedule a tour for your school or group. Pond Spring, the General Joe Wheeler Home is a historic property of the Alabama Historical Commission - http://ahc.alabama.gov/

12280 AL Hwy 20 Hillsboro, AL 35643
(256) 637-8513
Wed-Sat: 9am-4pm
Discounts offered to Military
Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Wheelchair Accessible
Admission Charged
Adults $8 Students, seniors 65+, military with ID $5 Children 6-18 $3 Children under 6 free
Wed-Sat: 9am-4pm
(256) 637-8513

Getting There

  • 12280 AL Hwy 20
  • Hillsboro, AL 35643
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