The Main Street Commercial District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

Dothan, Alabama Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner, ...

. The district covers 18 acres (7 ha) and portions of 6 blocks in Dothan's historic commercial district. At the time of the nomination, it contained 68

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, however many have been demolished in the intervening years. Dothan was founded on the site of Poplar Head Springs, which was an important crossroads in the

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsCivil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Settlers began building

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...

s and

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shops, and encouraged commercial development by donating land and bricks to new settlers. The town was incorporated in 1885, and began a period of great expansion with the coming of the

Alabama Midland Railway The Alabama Midland Railway was incorporated in Alabama and Georgia in 1887, and built a line from Bainbridge, Georgia, to a point near Montgomery, Alabama. The route was completed in 1890. It became part of the Plant System in 1894, and in 1901 i ...

in 1889. The oldest buildings in the district date from the 1900s, including the three-story Wadlington Hotel (built 1900, demolished 2012) and the Neoclassical First National Bank (1907). Several brick

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

s were also constructed along the railroad line. A symbol of the town's rapid growth, a five-story office building was completed in 1914.

Cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

had replaced lumber as the economic engine of the region, but the

boll weevil The boll weevil (''Anthonomus grandis'') is a beetle that feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central Mexico, it migrated into the United States from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all U.S. cotton-growing ...

outbreak of the 1910s sent Dothan into a recession. Fewer buildings date from beyond this period, including the Malone Motor Company Building (1923) and the Kress Building (1928). The importance of the downtown core declined after the 1960s, as retail establishments relocated to outlying areas. ''See also:'' The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1983.

Gallery

File:Main Street Commercial District (Dothan, Alabama).jpg, alt=, Main Street Historic District Historic Marker File:Colby Building, Dothan.JPG, alt=, Colby Building File:The First National Bank Building - Dothan, AL.jpg, alt=, The First National Bank Building - June 2021

References

National Register of Historic Places in Houston County, Alabama Historic districts in Houston County, Alabama Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama {{Alabama-NRHP-stub