Burt, Armistead, House
National Register Listing
Street Address:
306 N. Main St., Abbeville, SC (Abbeville County)
Alternate Name:
Burt-Stark Mansion; Burt-Stark House
NRHP Nomination Form
National Historic Landmark Nomination Form
Record Number:
S10817701001
Description and Narrative:
(Burt-Stark Mansion; Burt-Stark House) The Armistead Burt House is significant to Civil War history as it served as the location of President Jefferson Davis’ last Council of War. Despite a number of military surrenders in the preceding months, Davis was determined to continue the struggle for an independent Confederacy. He planned to rally the troops in Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor’s Department of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana, cross the Mississippi, and join with forces there. Davis was steadfast in this resolve when he reached Abbeville and took up quarters at the home of his personal friend, Major Armistead Burt. During the meeting in the southeast parlor with John C. Breckenridge, Braxton Bragg, Generals Duke, Ferguson, Dibrell, and Vaughn, Davis was advised that any attempt to continue the war would inflict more misery on the South, striking the death knell of the Confederate government. Because of this final meeting, Abbeville is known as the “Grave of the Confederacy.” The two-story frame house, built in the 1830s, is Greek Revival in style. Four square columns support a pedimented two-story portico. Floor-length shuttered windows open onto the main portico on either side of the front door. Ornamental brackets surround the home’s entablature. The acreage contains an original separate kitchen outbuilding. The gardens were designed in the 1830s by an English landscaper named Johnson. The narrow entrance drive, originally a carriage road, circles before the front steps where a dismount stone still stands. Listed in the National Register April 3, 1970; Designated as a National Historic Landmark October 5, 1992.
Period of Significance:
April 17 – May 2 1865
Level of Significance:
National
Area of Significance:
Politics/Government;Archeology: Historic - Aboriginal;Architecture;Landscape Architecture;Military;Social History
National Register Determination:
National Historic Landmark;listed
Date of Certification:
April 3 1970
Date of Certification as a National Historic Landmark:
October 5 1992
