Abraham Byrd House
The Byrd House was built in 1827 for Abraham Byrd, an early pioneer, prominent local farmer, Missouri State Representative, and presidential elector. The Byrd Home was constructed on land that Byrd obtained in a Spanish Land Grant in the early 1800s, and it served as the residence of the Abraham Byrd family for many years, after which it passed on to other families in the region, very recently becoming a holding of the Stephen and Sherri Ford Family Trust.
Abraham Byrd was a slaveholder, and local lore has it that the stone I-house was built by the slaves. The limestone was likely quarried from nearby Byrd creek (also known from some surveys as Horrell Creek), and is considered significant in architecture as a rare limestone residence located in a rural area in Byrd Township, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. The building, both interior and exterior, retains a high degree of historic integrity and conveys its significance as an early 19th century vernacular farmhouse designed as a central passage I-house type, yet built with stone rather than timber, a more common practice in the region and early American frontier history.
The building has a rectangular footprint that measures 40’ x 24’ and sits on a rough-cut limestone foundation. At the southwest corner of the rear of the house is the foundation remains of the kitchen that measures 20’ x 10’, and on the grounds several other foundations have been detected. Located on the east and west elevations are large limestone chimneys that rise above the side gable roof line. All of the windows have limestone headers and sills. All of the doors have large stone headers and stone sills. A unique feature of the building is a large stone lintel above the front entry, inscribed with "A. B : Oct. 1827", thus establishing its age.
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