About

Twickenham holds the densest concentration of antebellum homes in Alabama. It was Huntsville's first historic district, listed on the National Register on January 4, 1973, with the nomination expanded in 2015 to cover roughly 360 contributing resources. The district runs between the courthouse square and Maple Hill Cemetery.

City founder LeRoy Pope named it after Twickenham, England, the Thames-side home of the poet Alexander Pope. Federal and Greek Revival architecture arrived around 1818 with the Virginia-born architect George Gilliam Steele, and the district also holds Italianate, Queen Anne, Tudor Revival, and Prairie houses. Brick and cobblestone sidewalks, limestone carriage mounts, and wrought-iron fences survive along the streets. Landmarks include the Weeden House Museum, built around 1819, and Helion Lodge 1, Alabama's oldest Masonic group.