February 21, 1861

The Provisional Confederate Congress authorized the lease of an executive mansion in Montgomery for $5,000 a year. Built in the Federal style between 1832 and 1835, the First White House of the Confederacy served as the residence of Jefferson Davis for three months while Montgomery was the Confederate capital. In 1900, the newly founded White House Association of Alabama began its more than 20-year struggle to save the building that culminated with a restoration and relocation in 1921. The house now serves as a museum and exhibits Civil War artifacts and former possessions of the Davis family.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

First White House of the Confederacy, 625 Washington Street (moved from Bibb and Lee Streets), Montgomery, 1934 . (Photograph by W.N. Manning, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

First White House of the Confederacy, 625 Washington Street (moved from Bibb Lee Streets), Montgomery, 1934 . (Photograph by W.N. Manning, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Jefferson Davis and family, c. 1890. (Kurz and Allison, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

First White House of the Confederacy, 625 Washington Street (moved from Bibb and Lee Streets), Montgomery, 1934 . (Photograph by W.N. Manning, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

First White House of the Confederacy, 625 Washington Street (moved from Bibb Lee Streets), Montgomery, 1934 . (Photograph by W.N. Manning, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

“Button” bed made especially for Jefferson Davis, who was 6’3″, while he was living in the First White House of the Confederacy, Montgomery, 2010. (Photograph by Carol Highsmith, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

First parlor in the First White House of the Confederacy, Montgomery, 2010. (Photograph by Carol Highsmith, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

Executive residence of President Jefferson Davis and family while the capitol of the Confederacy was in Montgomery, 2010. (Photograph by Carol Highsmith, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.