Athens State University Foundation Inc

The Beaty-Mason home in Athens, Alabama, is a rare surviving structure from the earliest days of Alabama’s settlement.  It was first recognized as an historically significant property in 1933, when it was selected for inclusion in America’s first nationwide survey of landmark architecture.  The Federalist brick home was built in 1826, making it one of an ever-decreasing number of buildings linking our own day with the earliest days of Alabama statehood.  During the 1820’s, when log dwellings were almost universal in Alabama and the frontier Deep South, a two-story brick house such as the Beaty-Mason home would have been unparalleled in its grandeur.  The home  retains substantial aspects of its original construction, including its original early brick service wing and a very rare hewn-log “Saddlebag” cabin in the backyard.  The cabin is the only one of its kind remaining in Limestone County.  The Beaty-Mason home is in  urgent need of rehabilitation.   Athens State University plans to stabilize and renovate the home in order to preserve it as an educational and architectural resource for future generations.