Van Dorn House, Federal style house in Port Gibson, United States
Van Dorn House is a residential building in the Federal style located on a hilltop in Port Gibson with two and a half stories. The structure dates from the early 1800s and displays typical features of this architectural period.
Peter Aaron Van Dorn, a New Jersey-born lawyer and cotton planter, bought the Port Gibson land in 1826 and built this hilltop house around 1830; a marker onsite gives that date and the Federal style. His son Earl, born in 1820, lived here as a child, graduated from West Point in 1842 and became a Confederate major general. The house was listed on the National Register on June 21, 1971, and donated with 5.1 acres to the state archives by December 1972.
Van Dorn Drive is named for Peter Van Dorn, who bought the Port Gibson land for his town house in 1826. Andrew Jackson, whose wife Rachel was an aunt of Van Dorn's wife Sophia, visited the house on trips to New Orleans. The family connection gained son Earl a federal appointment to West Point in 1842.
The house can be viewed from outside and its structure is easily visible from the street. The hilltop location makes it straightforward to find and reach.
The house is documented in the Historic American Buildings Survey with detailed drawings and photographs held in the Library of Congress. This architectural documentation makes it a valuable record of building history from its period.
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