No Place Like Home: An Architectural Study of Auburn, Alabama--The First 150 Years

Auburn is well known as a college town and as a historic Southern village in central Alabama. The architecture that presently constitutes Auburn’s built environment deserves the same level of recognition. From structures on the campus of Auburn University to historic churches and other buildings across the town, Auburn’s architectural record is worth celebrating and protecting. In No Place Like Home: An Architectural Study of Auburn, Alabama--a companion volume to Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs--co-authors Delos Hughes, Ralph Draughon Jr., Emily Sparrow, and Ann Pearson highlight the buildings of Auburn that are distinguished by age, celebrated residents, distinctive design, and historical importance. The architectural character of Old Auburn lives on in the enduring structures found throughout the city. Anchored by a strong sense of place, No Place Like Home will inspire readers to a greater appreciation of the shared past that connects us all through historic homes and meeting places.

Ralph B. Draughon Jr. (Author)
RALPH B. DRAUGHON, JR. serves on the Alabama Historical Commission and the board of directors of the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation. A PhD in southern history from the University of North Carolina, he taught at the University of Georgia, established a research center at Stratford Hall (Robert E. Lee’s birthplace in Virginia), served as curator at the Historic New Orleans Collection, and acted as historical advisor to a major national archeological firm.

Delos Hughes (Author)
DELOS HUGHES is a native of Auburn, Alabama. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught political philosophy at Washington and Lee University from 1963 until his retirement in 1996. As Emeritus Professor of Politics, he researches architectural history subjects. Hughes has published studies of courthouses in Alabama, Virginia, and South Carolina; a New Deal homesteads project in Tennessee; and an early effort to design buildings for the University of Alabama. He is a co-author of Lost Auburn: A Village Remembered in Period Photographs, published by NewSouth Books in 2012, and Historic Alabama Courthouses: A Century of Their Images and Stories, published by NewSouth Books in 2017.

Ann Pearson (Author)
As long-time president of the Auburn Heritage Foundation, ANN PEARSON led the successful effort to move the imperiled Nunn-Winston house to safety, and she directed the rescue from neglect of both the white and black cemeteries of early Auburn. She has earned an MA in English from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a PhD in English from Auburn University. She serves on the board of the Historic Chattahoochee Foundation and received the Alabama Historical Commission’s prestigious Roy Swayze Aware for the careful restoration of her own historic plantation, Noble Hall. She is the author of many articles about local history and historic preservation, as well as three mystery novels.

Emily Sparrow (Author)
EMILY SPARROW moved to Auburn, Alabama, with her parents in the 1950s and has lived there for most of her life. A retired educator, Sparrow graduated from Auburn University with three degrees in education and worked in that field in Auburn from 1967 to 2006. She was an instructor at Auburn University from 1996 to 2006 and served as Chairman of the City Planning Commission from 2010 to 2014. Sparrow is a member of the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance and the First White House Association. She is also the author of two books: Auburn Sweet Auburn: History, Stories and Epitaphs of Pine Hill Cemetery; and A Sense of History?Tribute to Our Founding Mothers. Sparrow resides in Auburn with her husband and son, both named Tom and both lifelong Auburn residents.