Young House

Phillip P. Young was originally from the hills of South Carolina and it was shortly before the tumultuous Civil War that he decided to move his large family to the northeast corner of Alabama. Upon the onset of the war, the Union Army burned the Young property leaving his fledgling family destitute.

Facing uncertainty, Young knew that he needed to remove his loved ones from danger and made an allegiance to the Union. They received a letter of safe passage through Union lines contingent upon them visiting General Carlin once they reached their destination in Greene County. They once again packed their belongings and commenced their trek to the majestic bluffs of Illinois. The Young’s oldest son decided against travelling with his family and decided instead to stay in Alabama and fight for the Confederate Army.

Phillip Young, his wife Mary Fields-Young and eleven of their twelve children made the long and arduous trip up the Tennessee River to the Mississippi and continued onto the Illinois River. They finally stopped at General Carlin’s Farm in Bluffdale Township. It is said that the Young women were clad in burlap dresses as they stepped off the boat.

At the conclusion of the war, General William Carlin returned to the Bluffdale Farm in Greene County and sold some of his land to the Young family. It was at this time that plans were put into motion to construct a limestone home that would house his large brood. They were at last reunited with their eldest and his wife when his precious Confederacy was defeated.

According to a local historian, Warren Howdeshell, the limestone home was nestled in an area called Bridgewater Hollow named for John and Frank Bridgewater who owned property north of the Young home.

A stone mason directly from England began the construction of the limestone home. It is not clear when this began but it is known that the mason died before the project was completed. As a result, the home’s first level is limestone and the second was wood framed. There was also at one point a stone barn and bridge near the property.

Based on the recollection of a direct descendant, Mrs. Bertha Camerer-Hodgerson, two of the Young daughters married two brothers from the Camerer family. Elizabeth Young married George Camerer and Margaret Young married Samuel Camerer. Not much else is known about the family or the property that still stands today. The property is currently being used as an inn and historic destination called the Rock Bottom Retreat and is owned by the McGee family.