The Herron-Wilder-Blackwell  House

215 N. Tallassee Street

The Tarpley House

A modified Gothic, the Herren-Wilder-Blackwell House is believed to have been built in the late 1880s by studying the building technique that was practiced at that time.

The Herren family, the original owners, sold the house to the Newells and they, in turn, sold it again in 1917 to Mr. Adam Hill Wilder and Mrs. Minnie Lee Estes Wilder.

Mr. Wilder was the owner of Dadeville Bottling Company, which bottled Coca Cola, and at one time he served as Mayor of Dadeville. There were five children raised here in this home, four boys and one girl. It is said that the daughter, Mabel, could hold her own with her brothers as she was very athletic. At one time there was a clay tennis court and a swimming pool, believed to be the first in Dadeville, behind the house.

Two of the brothers were POW's in World War II. It has been told that Mr. Wilder, who had been confined to a wheelchair for several years, got up and walked to meet his sons at the front door when he heard their voices.

These two sons later served as Commanders for the Alabama American Legion.

After Mrs. Wilder passed away, her son Fred lived in the house with his daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth sold the house to Carolyn Parkman in 1982. Carolyn worked on the house for a year and moved into the house in 1983.

In 1989, the house was once again sold, this time to Mr. and Mrs. Tim Blackwell of Washington, D. C. Mr. Tim, originally from Detroit, Michigan yielded to his wife Evelina, and moved to Alabama upon their retirement in 1993 and after she had reworked the house completely inside and out. Mrs. Blackwell was originally from Rockford in Coosa County.