Members of the Historic Mobile Preservation Society are pushing back against plans to close Oakleigh House Museum, the antebellum-era mansion that gives Mobile’s Oakleigh Garden Historic District its name, and have started a petition urging the city to reconsider.
Chaney Scott McCorquodale, an Oakleigh Belle and member of the Historic Mobile Preservation Society, said she was distraught to learn that the historic house museum was being closed, calling it a unique fixture not just for Mobile but for the country. As a docent at Oakleigh, McCorquodale said she has welcomed visitors from across the United States, including guests traveling from as far as California, Washington and Maine, as well as international visitors from Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan.
“I believe closing this much-beloved fixture in our community, from which we have a whole historical district named after, is poor judgment in the city’s priorities,” McCorquodale said, while adding that she appreciates and respects the broader improvements the mayor and Mobile City Council have made throughout the city.
McCorquodale said she started a petition the same day the closure became public and had already collected more than 200 signatures within hours. She is encouraging residents to join the effort in hopes of keeping Oakleigh’s doors open to the public.
Oakleigh House has long served as one of Mobile’s most visited historic homes, drawing tourists and history enthusiasts to the Oakleigh Garden District to tour the antebellum mansion and learn about the city’s architectural and cultural history. Preservation advocates argue that losing the museum would diminish the historical and cultural influence that helped shape the surrounding district and the broader city.
McCorquodale said she hopes city officials will give residents the opportunity to weigh in and find a path forward that keeps the museum accessible to the public, rather than allowing the closure to move forward without further public input.