Sweet Home

Henry Wilson Sweet, Sr. was born on September 19, 1866, to Civil War veteran Captain Leander “Lee” Sweet and Sarah Ann Massey Rivers Sweet. The couple had a total of four children, two sons and two daughters. Henry’s brother, James Edward Sweet, served as a postmaster and was a merchant in Bessemer, Alabama. At some point, the family surname was changed from Sweat to Sweet. Henry W. Sweet, Sr. married Martha “Mattie” Breen Sweet in Thomas, Georgia on July 4, 1895. By 1900, the couple had settled in Bessemer where they became prominent citizens. The couple lost an infant son in 1898, however, four years later, they gave birth to another son, Henry’s namesake, Henry Wilson Sweet, Jr.

The Sweet Home, also called the Sweet House, was built in 1906 in Bessemer, Alabama. The home was constructed for Henry Wilson Sweet, Sr., the city’s first undertaker and a large furniture dealer, at a cost of $10,000. The contractor was J. C. Scudder, and it was designed by architect William E. Benns Sr. At the time of its construction, the 5,072-square-foot home was one of the most impressive homes in the city. It is a Queen Anne Neoclassical structure with two imposing porticoes and an octagonal corner turret. Situated on a corner lot, the building comprises two stories and features two street facades, one facing Arlington and the other facing 19th Street. The matching entries on both fronts exhibit stained glass transoms and sidelights. The house features a double-teardrop weatherboard siding on a brick foundation, a cross-gabled two-story portico with galleries, and pedimented stucco gables with plain entablatures supported by massive Corinthian columns. Lower porch roofs surround both street facades and are supported by smaller Corinthian columns. An ornamental finial graces the top of the corner turret which is shingled on a third story above the eave line.

Legend has it that Henry Sweet, Sr. and another wealthy Bessemer resident, banker Jefferson Clay, were in a race to build the tallest house in the city in the shortest amount of time. While the Sweet Home was completed first, Clay’s turret was a bit taller. Clay’s house was located at 1915 Clarendon Avenue, also designed by William Benns, but has since burned down. Benns also designed Arlington High School, Bessemer’s first high school. Henry Wilson Sweet, Sr. died on September 26, 1919, at the age of 53. His wife, Mattie Breen Sweet, died on March 25, 1946, at the age of 80. The couple are both buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Bessemer next to their infant son.

Their son, Henry Wilson Sweet, Jr. married Lucile Capitola Lytle on August 31, 1925, in Bessemer. He significantly contributed to Alabama’s economy, politics, and civic life, especially in Jefferson County and Bessemer. He played a crucial role in bringing the University of Alabama Medical Center to Birmingham as Jefferson County Commissioner by signing the deed conveying land and the Hillman-Jefferson Hospital Complex to the university. Also, Sweet served as Director of the Alabama and Georgia State Docks and even ran for Governor in 1954. As Alabama Docks Director, he led Mobile to its highest ranking among U.S. ports. In addition, he served as Treasurer of the Bessemer Division of Jefferson County, President of the American Association of Port Authorities, and International Director of Lions Clubs. Henry W. Sweet, Jr. died on June 22, 1990, at the age of 88. He is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery with the rest of the Sweet family.

A landmark marker was erected by the Alabama Historical Association in 2006 to commemorate the Sweet Home as a landmark. In the early 2000s, the home was renovated and used as an event space, however, that was short-lived. It was later occupied by the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles as a field office. In 2017, the vacant Sweet House was used as a filming location for a SyFy channel movie called Truth or Dare that debuted in October 2017. Heather Langenkamp, who starred in the Nightmare on Elm Street series, also appeared in the film. Today more than a century after its construction, the Sweet Home sits vacant and abandoned with its doors and windows boarded up. The property is currently owned by the City of Bessemer.

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