Liberty Hall in the Historic American Buildings Survey

Library of Congress

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The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) is the nation’s first federal preservation program to document America’s architectural heritage. In 1934, HABS became one of many cultural programs that were a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” administration, which provided relief to the unemployed during the Great Depression. Soon, the program put photographers, writers, historians and architects to work.

 

More than 720 structures are documented in Alabama, and almost half of them are no longer standing. Mobile and Wilcox counties have the most documented buildings in the survey. We are proud that Liberty Hall’s architectural history is preserved at the Library of Congress and the collection of 1936 and 1837 photographs by architectural photographer Alex Bush are available for all to see here. 

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Below we show the views from HABS and views from today. Liberty Hall has been continuously occupied, and the house was painted and other improvements made shortly after the Depression. These are not before-and-after shots, rather then and now. Also, Alex Bush shot with entirely different lenses, so we weren't able to duplicate all photos exactly.