Windsor Ruins was built by enslaved Mississippians just before the outbreak of the Civil War, it was the largest Greek Revival home in the South, no small feat in Antebellum Mississippi. This magnificant marvel was one of the last great homes built by enslaved African Americans before the Civil War.
Built in 1859-61 by Smith Daniell who only lived in the large mansion for a few weeks before he died. The Windsor plantation is rich with history.
A Union soldier was shot in the front doorway of the home. During the Civil War the mansion was used as a Union hospital and observation post, thus sparing it from being burned by Union troops.
However, after the Civil War, during a house party on February 17, 1890 a guest left a lighted cigar on the upper balcony and Windsor burned to the ground. Everything was destroyed except 23 of the columns, balustrades and iron stairs.
Learn More: http://www.mdah.ms.gov/new/visit/windsor-ruins/
Fun Fact:
Mark Twain, who would visited the Windsor Mansion would later write of its elegance in his book, Life on the Mississippi.
