General Joe Wheeler Home Re-opens Memorial Day Weekend

General Joseph Wheeler’s family home on the historic Pond Spring Plantation will re-open to the public on Memorial Day weekend. The doors will open for regularly scheduled guided tours at 9 am-4 pm Saturday, May 26 and 1pm-5pm Sunday, May 27th

The state-owned landmark had been closed for over a decade while the Alabama Historical Commission undertook an extensive restoration of the house and its unparalleled collection.

“This is a stunning transformation at one of Alabama’s most important historic places,” says Frank White, Executive Director of the Alabama Historical Commission.

Wheeler was a famed Civil War cavalry general in the Confederate Army. After the war he served in the U.S. Congress and became a national symbol for reunification between the North and South. He served in the U.S. Army in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War.

The historic house museum features the General’s and his family’s memorabilia and furnishings, all original to the home they built and occupied from 1868 through the 1950’s.

The 50-acre site , known as Pond Spring, includes a dogtrot log house built around 1818, a circa 1830 Federal-style house, the Wheeler home, eight farm-related outbuildings, family cemeteries, an African-American cemetery, a small Indian mound, a pond, a boxwood garden, and other garden areas.

Admission is $8 for adults; $5 for seniors 65+, military, and college students; $3 for children 6-18; and free for children under 6. There are reduced admission rates for groups of ten or more with advance reservations.

Pond Spring is a Blue Star Museum, offering free admission to active duty military and their families between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Following the opening on May 26-27, the house and its grounds will be open Wednesday – Saturday, 9am – 4pm and Sunday, 1pm – 5pm. Closed Monday, Tuesday, and State holidays. Please call the Site Director at 256-637-8513 email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.