Wilcox County, Alabama's Cedarcrest was added to the state's regisiter of landmarks and heritage in April 1981

An example of Native American tree carvings.

Yesterday – April 21 – marked 41 years since Cedarcrest in Oak Hill was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1981.

Cedarcrest, an antebellum plantation house, is located off State Highway 10 in Oak Hill. According to Alabama Historical Commission records, this private residence was built between 1840 and 1846 as a Creek Rival cottage with four rooms. The land that Cedarcrest was built on was purchased in 1840 by Isaac Newberry, a prominent planter, businessman and civic leader.

The house began as a central hallway with two large rooms on each side of the hall. A large central gable was added to the southern slope of the house’s gabled roof in 1885. A rear wing containing a kitchen and dining room was also added in 1885, and three bathrooms were added to the house in 1930. The rear wing gave the house an L-shape, dramatically changing the original appearance of the house.

When I think of Cedarcrest, I cannot help but think about the tales of an old oak tree on the property that was said to bare the “carved figure of an Indian encircled by the coils of a large snake.” For many, many years, visitors to Oak Hill were taken to see this locally famous tree and were told the tragic story behind this unusual carving. The best available source about this old story is a local history book called “Oak Hill, Alabama: Its Houses and People, 1856-1978” by William and Joyce Jones.

According to this remarkable book, which was published in 1978, Isaac and Sophia Taylor Newberry built Cedarcrest in a grove of “beautiful oak trees.” On one of these trees was the carving of an Indian and a snake, which “gave rise to the following story: Two Indian tribes camped nearby. They were hostile to each other. A young brave of one tribe and a girl from the other met somehow and fell in love. Their meeting place was under the big tree.”

The story goes on to say that “one day when going to meet her lover, the girl discovered his dead body in the clutches of the snake. She either killed herself or died of grief there. They were both buried under the tree. This is a story long told.”

The book goes on to say that the tree that bore the carving no longer stands. The tree died decades ago and was cut down during Pressly Dale’s occupancy of the property. Some sources say that the Indians in the story were Choctaw, but that is unconfirmed.

In the end, it would be interesting to know if anyone in the reading audience knows any additional details about the story of the Indian carved oak. I’d also like to hear from anyone in the reading audience who knows any other ghost stories, local legends or Indian lore from the Oak Hill area. Know doubt there are many other tales from this area that deserve not to be forgotten.