Ashford was incorporated on June 22, 1891. Citizens, friends, and families of Ashford gathered here on June 22, 1991, to remember Ashford's durable and progressive history. This commemoration also affirmed their faith in Ashford's future by placing . . . — — Map (db m73411) HM
This depot, an example of late 19th century Victorian railroad architecture, was constructed by the Alabama Midland Railroad in March, 1888 as a way station on the Bainbridge-to-Montgomery route. The depot was the only building to survive a . . . — — Map (db m73355) HM
This building site was purchased March 9, 1889 by trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of Gordon Circuit. Services were held in a three-walled wood structure until the completion of a permanent building in 1893. In 1927 a brick building . . . — — Map (db m83760) HM
Incorporation of Ashford
Wishing to incorporate their small town of “Pine-Woods,” a group of men set off to Abbeville, Alabama to go before Probate Judge Dan Gordon on May 11, 1891. A petition was signed on that day, recorded and filed . . . — — Map (db m64866) HM
Side 1
This church was constituted in 1835 following the withdrawal of six people from Omussee Baptist Church in a dispute over the role of missions. The first pastor Edmund Talbot, who served the Church until 1853, donated that land and . . . — — Map (db m73361) HM
Front
The Columbia Cemetery was started in the 1830s on land given
by Rev. Edmund Talbot. It postdates the abandoned Omussee
Creek Church Cemetery located a mile SW of here. A "public
Meeting house," which served as the Columbia . . . — — Map (db m115031) HM
After the creation of Houston County in 1903, the old Henry County branch courthouse on the public square in Columbia was converted into the Columbia Elementary School. A bell tower and this bell was added atop the main entrance of the two story . . . — — Map (db m176158) HM
Side 1
History suggests that, in the early 1820's, circuit riding preachers from the South Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church arrived in the newly settled town of Columbia. Assigned to the Early County Mission in . . . — — Map (db m73363) HM
Founded in 1820, Columbia was originally located about a mile south, near where the Omussee Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River. It served as the county seat of Henry County from 1826 to 1833. Bordering the State of Georgia and the . . . — — Map (db m73364) HM
(side 1)
Old Columbia Jail
Erected sometime in the early 1860's, the Old Columbia Jail is today one of the last wooden jails still standing in Alabama. Originally, there were two cells, each measuring 10 x 15 feet. Interior . . . — — Map (db m73368) HM
Near where you stand lies Omussee Creek Mound, the southernmost
platform mound along the Chattahoochee River, occupied
approximately 1300 to 1550 A.D. as part of an important
Native American settlement. This region of southeastern Alabama and . . . — — Map (db m115032) HM
We do not know the exact date that residents of the community of which Omussee Creek Mound was a part abandoned the mound, but by around 1550 it was definitely in decline. Many believe this may have been part of a broader, regional depopulation due . . . — — Map (db m115034) HM
This house, also known as Travelers Rest, was completed in 1890 by William Henry Purcell (1845-1910) a prominent Columbia businessman and politician. Purcell had many business interests including a steamboat landing on the Chattahoochee River. This . . . — — Map (db m73370) HM
The original builders of the Omussee Creek mound
had abandoned the site by around 1550, but the
area continued to be occupied by Native American
groups well into the early nineteenth century. As early as
the 1630s, Spanish missionaries from . . . — — Map (db m115037) HM
In April 1903, the Town of Cottonwood was incorporated, making it the first town established in Houston County. The town's name may have come from either Mr. Wood, an influential land owner, or from the softwood trees growing in the area. General . . . — — Map (db m73381) HM
On October 27, 1795, the United States concluded the Treaty of San Lorenzo with Spain, establishing 31 north latitude as the boundary between its southern territory and West Florida. Despite Spanish delays, commissions representing the two . . . — — Map (db m73359) HM
(Front): Cowarts Baptist Church
Cowarts Baptist Church was founded in 1885 when dissension arose in the Congregation of Smyrna. Originally located beside the cemetery, the church was destroyed by fire during the 1890s. It was rebuilt . . . — — Map (db m64865) HM
This bell rang over the streets of Dothan from 1905 until 1960 when it was saved from demolition by Dewey Emfinger.
It was loaned to Houston County for display in 2006 by the Emfinger family in honor of Dewey and Beatrice Emfinger.
Thank you to . . . — — Map (db m83779) HM
In Gratitude to those who Bravely gave their loved ones in this cause to those who can't forget-we can but say that all might hear "we too remember"
"Legions of our hero dead you are here with us forever you live again in the Hearts of men we . . . — — Map (db m185890) WM
Side 1
Constructed by the Atlantic Coastline Railroad in 1907 during Dothan's rapid growth as a commercial center of the Wiregrass Region, this building serves as a reminder of the most popular and accessible form of transportation in . . . — — Map (db m73357) HM
Near this spot was the boyhood home of Rev. Bob Jones, (1884-1968), D.D., L.L.D., internationally known evangelist and founder of Bob Jones University. The eleventh child of W. Alexander and Georgia Creel Jones, he was three months old when the . . . — — Map (db m191348) HM
On this site in 1877 Gaines Chapel Church was organized. A wooden structure was erected adjacent to an existing graveyard. In 1891 and 1901 additional land was purchased.
In 1908 the present building was dedicated. This structure was of early . . . — — Map (db m73362) HM
One hundred feet tall and sixteen feet in diameter, this structure embodies the significance of "pure and plentiful" water resulting in the city's early growth and development as the hub of the Wiregrass region. Through the careful stewardship of . . . — — Map (db m115022) HM
Municipal
Light & Water Plant
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
1991 — — Map (db m115030) HM
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Department of the Interior, December 16, 1977, through the efforts of the Dothan Landmarks Foundation, Incorporated.
Constructed in 1915, this three-story masonry structure remains . . . — — Map (db m83780) HM
Entered on the National Register
of Historic Places
December 31, 1974
Federal Building
U.S. Courthouse
Dothan, Alabama
James Knox Taylor Architect 1909
This property significantly contributes to the Nation's Cultural Heritage . . . — — Map (db m83781) HM
In November 1887 nine charter members organized the First Baptist Church of Dothan. In 1888 the Church erected a one room frame structure at 205 South Saint Andrews Street.
A beautiful Gothic brick building in the SE corner of Main and Oates . . . — — Map (db m83782) HM
(side 1)
In 1889, Georgia Baptists led by Reverend W. M. Carter organized the New Hope Baptist Church in the village of Poplar Head. Reverend Robert Nelson was called as the first pastor. In 1907, newly-elected trustees incorporated . . . — — Map (db m102970) HM
Side 1
Organized on July 8, 1897 by the commission of South Alabama Presbytery. From the original seventeen members, J.D. Jones, N. M. McDonald, and I. M. Barton were elected ruling elders and Dr. Charles Sporman, D. R. Redding, and W. R. . . . — — Map (db m73379) HM
After much politicking, on February 9, 1903, delegates from this area, T.M. Espy, Byrd Farmer, and George H. Malone, were successful in getting a bill passed in the State Legislature to form a new county from parts of Henry, Dale, and Geneva . . . — — Map (db m41135) HM
Johnny Mack Brown, an outstanding athlete and western movie star, was born in Dothan on September 1, 1904. Johnny Mack was one of nine children born to John Henry and Hattie McGillivray Brown. The Brown family home was located on South Saint Andrews . . . — — Map (db m83783) HM
This District encompasses the old downtown commercial center of Dothan and is characterized by a high concentration of closely spaced commercial and warehouse structures. The buildings in the District span the period of Dothan’s early growth from . . . — — Map (db m220453) HM
A mule trader for 65 years, was known throughout the nation for the slogan,"'Tolable' fair dealer". Opposite this site, on the southeast corner of East Main and Holman Streets stood one of the south's largest mule stables. Built in 1917, the . . . — — Map (db m83784) HM
Located near this marker is the Poplar Head Spring which served as a meeting place for Indian traders prior to the arrival of the white and black settlers. The Alibamu Indians of the Chattahoochee River basin met the Creeks of the Choctawahatchee . . . — — Map (db m41141) HM
Side 1
William Lafayette Shelley (1868-1953), son of Mark Shelley and Mary Jane Ronie Shelley, was a progressive farmer and entrepreneur in the Tumbleton community of Henry County, Alabama. “Papa Billy”, as he was known by . . . — — Map (db m73377) HM
Side A In the late 1700s and 1800s, horse and ox-drawn covered wagons from Charleston, Savannah, and Jacksonville traveled across the South as pioneer families searched for a place to build new homes and to start a new life. Those pioneers, . . . — — Map (db m154411) HM
In 1858, the tiny Poplar Head community requested a post office. Since there was a town called Poplar Spring in the state, the postal authorities arbitrarily assigned the name Dothan to the new post office to prevent misdirected mail. Early maps and . . . — — Map (db m41137) HM
There were few roads in the Wiregrass in 1800s - and the roads that were here were little more than twin rutted paths. The main transportation in the region was the steamboats on the Chattahoochee River on the east, and, to a lesser degree, the . . . — — Map (db m83786) HM
Side 1
This quaint turn of the century farmhouse originally stood on an 80 acre farm, located 2 miles west of the Houston County Courthouse. The house was built by Bud Bush of heart pine lumber from the sawmill owned and operated by . . . — — Map (db m73378) HM
Side 1
Baptists of Gordon first erected a brush arbor church, Hope Arbor, circa 1819. On May 16, 1867 James Pynes gave one acre and timber to build a church in the town center. Pynes, William Wood and John T. Davis, Building Committee, . . . — — Map (db m73372) HM
(side 1)
Gordon Cemetery
Mr. William Wood (b. 22 Mar. 1826, d. 15 Oct. 1885), a prominent Gordon businessman, donated one acre of land located north of the town center adjacent to the old river road, now U.S. Highway 95, from . . . — — Map (db m73371) HM
Side 1
Organized in 1882 at nearby Rocky Creek Methodist Church for educational purposes. This school, which occupied approximately seven acres surrounding this marker, was supported by the Methodist Episcopal Church North. This school . . . — — Map (db m73374) HM
The church was organized in 1867 under a brush arbor very near the present sanctuary. The brush arbor was replaced by a log building and services were conducted in the log building until approximately 1895. It was in 1895 that Liberty Baptist Church . . . — — Map (db m83787) HM
(side 1)
Big Creek United Methodist Church
One of the oldest churches in southeast Alabama and reportedly the oldest church in Houston County. The first church structure was a log building constructed about 20 yards north of the . . . — — Map (db m73356) HM
Taylor, one of the area's oldest communities, became a small town
around 1870. Billy Taylor, son of James and Wealthy Taylor,
established the post office and was appointed the first postmaster.
Thus Taylor derived its name from the first . . . — — Map (db m179475) HM
