William Lowndes Yancey Law Office
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It was also declared a National Historic Landmark on November 7, 1973. The building's interior included the historic floor plan and other decorative details when it was declared a landmark. The late 1970s brought redevelopment of the site and the building was altered, this caused substantial losses to enough of the historic elements that the landmark designation was withdrawn on March 5, 1986. The building remains on the National Register of Historic Places, however.
As a lawyer, populist legislator, firebrand orator, and party leader, William Lowndes Yancey was an important figure in sectional politics in the leadup to the Civil War. As one of the leading Southern Fire-Eaters, he gained national influence as an aggressive advocate of Slavery and States' Rights and exacerbated sectional differences that led to the secession of the Southern states from the Union. He had his law office in this building from 1846 until his death in 1863. Through successive modernizations and restorations in the 1970s and 1980s, the building lost much of the historic integrity for which it was originally designated a landmark, leading to the withdrawal of its designation. It was, however, retained on the National Register of Historic Places.
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ "William Lowndes Yancey Law Office". Withdrawal of National Historic Landmark Designation summary. National Park Service. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
- ^ National Park Service. "National Historic Landmark Program: Withdrawal of National Historic Landmark Designation". Retrieved September 20, 2007.