The Shorter Mansion

A prominent feature along historic North Eufaula Avenue, the Shorter Mansion is perhaps Eufaula’s most identifiable feature. Originally built in 1884, the mansion was once home to Governor John Gill Shorter. It is a Classical Revival-style historic house museum

The two-story masonry structure was built in 1884 by Eli Sims Shorter II and his wife, Wileyna Lamar Shorter, but it burned in 1900. The house as seen today was built in 1906 and was designed by architect Curran R. Ellis of Macon, Georgia.

Eli Sims Shorter died in 1908, but his wife resided in the house until 1927, when it was passed to their daughter, Fannie Shorter Upshaw. It was in turn inherited by Upshaw's daughter, Wileyna S. Kennedy, in 1959.

The Kennedy family moved away from the city and the house was purchased at auction for $33,000 in 1965 by the Eufaula Heritage Association. Finding that many old homes were being demolished, the organization initially formed in order to buy and restore the house. The Eufaula Heritage Association organized the city's first “pilgrimage” (tour of homes) in 1966 and became the primary historic preservation organization in Eufaula. It is a role it continues to fulfill to the present day, offering tours of the Shorter Mansion year-round.

The mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 14, 1972.