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Windsor Ruins is located 12 miles southwest of Port Gibson, Mississippi in Claiborne County, Mississippi near Alcorn State University. The site is maintained and administered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History .

The Windsor Plantation at one time covered 2,600 acres (11 km²). The mansion itself was constructed in 1859- 1861 by Smith Daniell who lived in the home only a few weeks before he died.

The home contained 25 rooms, each with a fireplace. It featured interior baths supplied with water from an attic tank, a library, a basement with a school room, an on-site dairy, numerous supply rooms, and a roof observatory.

During the American Civil War the home was used by both Union and Confederate troops. Confederate forces used the roof observatory as an observation platform and signal station.

After the capture of the area by Union forces, the mansion was used as a Union hospital and observation station. A Union soldier is said to have been killed in the doorway when the home was taken.

The home survived the Civil War and continued to be used for social gatherings in the area. Mark Twain stayed at the home and is said to have used the roof observatory to observe the Mississippi River.

On 17 February 1890Events January 2 Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer for the U. White House. January 25 The United Mine Workers of America is founded. January 25 Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days. March 1 Leon Bourgeois succeeds Ernest, a party guest left a lighted cigar on a balcony, and the house was destroyed in the resulting conflagration. The only remnants were the 23 haunting columns, a few pieces of china, and the wrought-iron stairs that are now used at Alcorn State University down the road.

Windsor Ruins has appeared in several motion pictures including Raintree CountyRaintree County is a novel by Ross Lockridge Jr. which tells the story of a small-town Midwestern teacher and poet who meets and falls in love with a beautiful Southern belle whose emotional instability leads to the destruction of their marriage. The nove ( 1957Events January January 2 San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge. January 3 Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch January 4 After 69 years the last issue of Colliers magazine is published January 5 Russell Endean becomes t) starring Elizabeth TaylorThis article is about the actress. There is also an article about the novelist of the same name. Elizabeth Taylor (born February 27, 1932) is an English-born Academy Award winning actress. She was born Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor in Hampstead, London, Engla and Montgomery CliftMontgomery Clift ( October 17, 1920 July 23, 1966) was an American actor. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift appeared on Broadway at the age of thirteen. He achieved success on the stage and starred there for ten years before moving to Hollywood, debuting in and most recently in the movie Ghosts of Mississippi with Whoopi GoldbergCaryn Elaine Johnson better known by her stage name of Whoopi Goldberg (born November 13, 1955), is a well-known movie actress, comedian and singer. She was born in New York, New York. After success as a stand up comedian in the San Francisco Bay Area, Go and Alec BaldwinAlec Baldwin (born April 3, 1958, in Massapequa, Long Island, New York, USA) is an American actor who is the most famous of the "Baldwin brothers", with brothers Daniel, Stephen and William. In 1998, he began narrating the American version of the children and James WoodsJames Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. Born in Vernal, Utah, he grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island where he attended Pilgrim High School. He attended MIT, but dropped out in 1969, just before his graduation, in order to pursue a care.

Also in the nearby area are the Port Gibson Battlefield Park , the ghost town that was Rodney, Mississippi , the Shaifer House, and the Bethel Presbyterian Church, founded in 1826.

Windsor Ruins is on the National Register of Historic Places.