Daniel Pratt Historic District NRHP Inventory 1984NFS Form 10-900
(3-82)
OMB No. 1024-OO18
Exp.10-31-84
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory—Nomination Form
See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms
Type all entries—complete applicable sections________________
1. Name
historic Daniel Pratt Historic District
and/or common
2. Location /V o r f h •>/?- ^ , /r .
street & number See continuation sheet IN A not for publication
city, town Prattville vicinity of congressional district 3
code 01 county Autauga code 001
3. Classification
Category Ownership
X district public
building(s) private
structure X both
site Public Acquisition
object in process
being considered
NA
Status
X occupied
unoccupied
work in progress
Accessible
X yes: restricted
yes: unrestricted
no
Present Use
agriculture
X _ commercial
X _ educational
entertainment
X _ government
X _ industrial
military
museum
park
X private residence
X religious
scientific
transportation
other;
4. Owner of Property
name Multiple ownership
street & number
city, town vicinity of state
5. Location of Legal Description
courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Autauga County Courthouse
street & number
city, town
6. Representation in Existing Surveys
title Alabama Inventory has this property been determined eligible?yes X no
date 1970-present federal state county local
depository for survey records Alabama Historical Commission
city, town Montgomery state Alabama
7. Description
Condition
excellent
X good
fair
deteriorated
ruins
unexposed
Check one
unaltered
X altered
Check one
X original site
moved date
Describe the present and original (iff known) physical appearance
The Daniel Pratt Historic District, encompassing the nineteenth-century nucleus of the
town of Prattville, consists of over two hundred properties representing a diversity of
commercial, industrial, residential, and institutional architecture. Most of the
structures in the district fall into the period between 1840 and 1930, with an especially
heavy concentration of buildings erected during the four decades between 1880 and 1920.
The district fans northward and easterly from Autauga Creek over some fifteen city blocks.
A small but highly significant portion of the district also lies along the southwest side
of the creek and includes the earliest industrial buildings around which the town developed
after 1839. Here, too, is located the picturesque hilltop Pratt family cemetery, the
only remaining component of the extensive domestic complex which Daniel Pratt developed
about his now-destroyed family mansion. (Pratt r s residence, erected in 1841-42, stood
approximately two hundred feet west of his cotton gin factory on a site obliterated in
the 1960s by the expansion of the Bush Hog/Continental Gin complex, successor to the
original Pratt enterprise.)
The high wooded hills which rise sharply from the floodplain on the southwest side of
Autauga Creek form a natural boundary at one edge of the district. These hills dictated
the development of the town of Prattville on the opposite side of the creek, where the
land rises gently, almost imperceptibly, northeastward. The streets within the district
form an ordinary gridiron pattern, topographically modified by the diagonal course of
Autauga Creek and the gradually rising elevation to the northeast.
Two groups of industrial buildings, comprising the core of the district, lie to either
side of the aritificial lake created by a reinforced concrete dam-—the fourth dam on the
same site—which has spanned Autauga Creek since 1920. The Bush Hog/Continental complex
on the southwest side of the creek (site #206) incorporates two large brick factory
buildings predating the Civil War. On the opposite bank, a pair of threes-story brick
structures which are mirror images of each other, along with a small adjoining "picker"
building, formerly housed the Pratt cotton textile mills (site #207). Today these are
owned and operated by Gurney Industries. Dating from the late nineteenth century, the
two mills supplanted Pratt f s earlier cotton factory.
While most of the mill housing has been destroyed, small frame workers 1 cottages are
still to be seen, isolated and in clusters, throughout the southwestern portion of the
district, with a particularly large concentration to the north of the Gurney installa-^
tion. The earliest extant generation of mill housing is exemplified by site #27: a two-
room dwelling with a central chimney, a shed extension across the rear, and a front
porch. Although the oldest standing cottages seem to date only from the 1880s, they
doubtless adhere closely in type to the first housing erected as early as 1840 by Pratt
for his operatives. A somewhat later, turn-of-the-century, generation of mill housing
(illustrated by sites #29 and #20) had a rear ell and differed from the older dwellings
in sashing, roof pitch, and detail. Otherwise, they retained the essential two^room^-
with central-chimney format of their predecessors. Still later mill housing, erected in
the 1920s, mimed in vernacular form the popular middles-class bungalow style with its
characteristic broad front gable, as exemplified by site #36.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTI NUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE 1
Bounded roughly on the North by 6th St., including 199 E. 6th; East by an irregular back
property line on east side of Northington Rd.; roughly by the back property lines on the
South side of 1st St. and Main St. on the west side of Chestnut; across Autauga Creek on
Bridge St., back property lines on both sides of Maple St., south side of Bridge St.,
including the Pratt family cemetery; across Bridge St. and Bush Hog/Continental Gin
property, across and including Autauga Creek Mill Dam; West by the back property lines on
the west side of Court St. including the properties bordering 1st, 2nd and 3rd Avenues.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
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With the exception of one house (site #154) believed to actually pre-date the founding
of Prattville, the oldest domestic structures in the district are the story-and-a-half
houses such as the Coe-Fay house (site #149), the Smith-Ticknor house (site #144), and
the Smith-McWilliams house (site #168) which quartered the industrial "elite" of the
antebellum community: Pratt's mill superintendents and the most highly skilled of his
artisans. The uniformity of these frame houses hints that they may have been designed,
if not built, by Pratt himself—a skilled house carpenter before he became an industrial
entrepreneur. Later domestic stock represents the usual panoply of Victorian eclecticism
and early twentieth century revivalistic design.
The L-shaped commercial district concentrated along South Court and West Main Streets
radiates east and north from the massive, 2%-story brick company store (site #199)
erected at the intersection of the two streets in the 1850s. Other one and two-story
brick commercial buildings date largely from 1890 to 1930. A 1906 Richardsonian
Romanesque courthouse (site #23) and its Italianate-style antecedent (site #7), built
in 1870 and now used as a warehouse, plus two early 20th century churches (sites #95
and #96) along with the Prattville Primary School (site #135) erected in 1925, comprise
the major structures of historic note within the district.
c
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 2___________________
DANIEL PRATT HISTORIC DISTRICT: CONTRIBUTING PROPERTIES;
/ 2-3. 215 and 225 South Court Street: 1900; two story, brick, rectangular
(ten-bay front divided at first-floor level into three commercial units with
two intervening stairhall entrances to second floor), upper windows arcuated
on both street fronts and linked by molded beltcourse; metal neoclassical
cornice between first and second floors horizontally divides facade which
terminates at roofline in second, heavy modillioned cornice surmounted by
brick parapet; bulls-eye windows top each stair door on main front and are
emphasized by flanking floriated rinceaux. First-floor commercial bays have
been renovated; shed canopy run length of front in early 20th century. Most
richly detailed (with #181) of any of Prattville's turn-of-the-century
commercial structures.
3 A 4-5. 207-213 South Court Street (B. W. Moncrief General Merchandise): 1910-1920;
commercial edifice consisting of trio of brick units dating respectively
from 1910, c. 1913, and c. 1920. Largest and southernmost unit at corner of
Court and Tichnor Street built 1910; first floor originally divided visually
into three sections with recessed entrance flanked by display windows
articulated through cast-iron structural members; five-bay upper floor with
segmentally arched window openings; lightly corbeled and denticulated
parapet at front and south side conceals shed roof sloping to rear. Striped
awnings originally shielded upper windows and lower display area. Adjacent
unit erected 1913 to house hardware section of store; second floor added c.
1915 with five upper bays and surmounting parapet which matches in height
but not detail earlier structure. Third building (one-story, two-units)
added c. 1920, along with street-level porch with cast-iron supports across
all three facades. One-story warehouse extension at back also added c.
1920. Builder-contractor for 1910 building a "Mr. Smith" of Prattville.
Upper floor once housed professional offices, Masons, Woodman of the World,
county health office. One of most important components of early
20th-century commercial streetscape in district.
6. 201 South Court Street (service station); c. 1920; one-story, stuccoed
brick with neo-Spanish or Mission Revival design elements (tiled parapet,
support piers capped by zapatos); business office with covered service area
to front, garage unit to south side.
7. 147 South Court Street (old Autauga County courthouse); 1870; two stories,
brick, rectangular (seven bays long, three bays wide), gabled roof with wide
eaves carried on paired scrolled brackets; each elevation articulated by
shallow piers forming blind panels into which window and door openings are
set; hood resting on consoles above middle bay of seven-bay long south
elevation (opening onto Third Street) marks location of one of original
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES DATE ENTERED
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ____ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 3_________________
doorways; similar hood may have once surmounted entrance on Court Street;
piano nobile interior arrangement with high-ceilinged courtroom on upper
floor, county offices below (interior now gutted); service station built
abutting west end of building before 1924; now warehouse for Autauga
Livestock Supply. Notable example of Italianate mode as applied to civil
architecture in Alabama.
f 13. 190 Hunt's Alley: 1875; one story, frame on brick foundation, gable roof
with central chimney serving two main rooms; four-bay front with door into
each of rooms; smaller, one-room (two-bay) gabled extension to side;
cinderblock and concrete platform porches added to front of both main block
and wing. Originally servants' quarters for #20 (Miles-Barnes-Ellis house).
14. 143 Hunt's Alley: c. 1895; one story, frame on brick-pier foundation,
rectangular (four-bay front) with ell, gable roof with central chimney
serving two main rooms; shed porch across front with original turned posts;
four-over-four sashing. Possibly millworker's house originally.
15-19. 127, 131, 135, 139, 141 Hunt's Alley: c. 1900; row of five identical
shotgun-style dwellings built as rental property; one story, frame (shiplap)
on brick pier foundation, rectangular (two-bay front), gable roof with
central chimney serving two end-to-end rooms. Good and little-altered
example of housing stock available to laboring blacks at turn of century.
20. 115 South Court Street (Miles-Ellis-Barnes house); c. 1850; frame (flush
boarding at front), story and a half, rectangular (five-bay facade) with
ell, gable roof, two pairs of brick exterior end chimneys; notable doorway
with geometrically patterned sidelights and transoms; present porch with
turned posts, stickwork balustrade, and curvilinear frieze added c. 1880,
probably replacing central Greek Revival-style portico (pediment still
extant); flush board facade and present two-over-two sashing dates from
period when porch added. Benjamin Miles, original owner, superintendent of
frame and brush department, Pratt Cotton Gin Factory. One of few extant
houses associated with mid-19th century industrial complex.
21. 103 South Court Street (Chambliss-Thomas building); 1924; one story, brick,
three-bay facade with buff-brick patterning embellishing facade, paneled
brick parapet surmounts metal decorative cornice over front bays.
22. 101 South Court Street (service station); 1922; brick, rectangular
(three-bay front), gable roof with small, steeply pitched cross-gable
cantilevered over central doorway, flanking display windows; later
cinderblock, two-bay garage addition to south.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 4_________________
? 23. 134 North Court Street (Autauga County Courthouse); 1906; basically two
stories with raised attic, buff brick construction, irregular rectangle with
polygonal bags and corner towers dominated by large belfry and clock tower
at southwest corner capped by pyramidal roof; shallow pyramidal roof covers
main block; main entrances (south and west elevations) feature vestibules
defined by heavy Syrian arches with wall dormers breaking roofline above.
Original sashing and doors replaced, wing added to north, 1962; interior
also severely modified. Modified Richardsonian Romanesque in design. Built
to succeed 1870 courthouse (see #7). Bruce Architectural Company of
Birmingham, architects; Lewman and Company of Louisville, contractors.
' 24. 138 North Court Street (Planter's Warehouse); 1913; two story; frame
sheathed with corrugated metal at rear, weatherboarding and later brick
veneer at front; rectangular, gable roof. Badly deteriorated.
/I 25. 210 Fourth Street (millworker's cottage); c. 1920; one story, frame
(shiplap siding) on brick-pier foundation, rectangular (three-bay front),
broad gable extending front-to-rear with smaller off-center gable projected
over porch; four-over-four sashing. Represents later generation of mill
housing; also exemplifies translation of early-20th century "California
bungalow" form into basic vernacular housing type.
^ 26. 131 North Court Street (millworker's cottage); c. 1915; one story, frame
(shiplap siding) on brick pier foundation, square (three-bay front), hipped
roof with shallow gabled dormer at front, two interior chimneys, four-room
plan. Built as part of mill village serving Prattville Cotton Mills (now
Gurney Manufacturing); represents later generation of mill housing.
7 27. 117 North Court Street (millworker's cottage): c. 1880; one story, frame on
brick pier foundation, rectangular (four-bay front with two doors), gable
roof with rear shed extension, central chimney serving two main rooms,
five-bay shed porch across front; twelve-over-twelve sashing. Built as
part of mill village serving Prattville Cotton Mills (now Gurney
Manufacturing). Very significant as one of few 19th-century mill cottages
surviving from over a hundred which once existed; example of earliest extant
type of mill housing. Architecturally notable in that house-type and
elements such as sashing are retardataire for c. 1880 construction date,
reflecting innate conservatism of most industrial architecture. Porch
replaced May 1984.
:>, 28. 143 North Court Street (mill house); c. 1880; one story, frame on brick
pier foundation, rectangular (four-bay front) with shed outshot across rear,
gable roof, central chimney, shed porch at front; two-room plan,
two-over-two sashing. One of few mill houses remaining from nearly a
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 5_________________
hundred in area which provided worker housing for Prattville Cotton Mills at
^ turn of century.
29-30. 135 and 141 First Avenue; c. 1880; pair of mill houses, one story, frame on
brick-pier foundation, rectangular (four-bay front, double entrances) with
ell, gable roof, central chimney serving two main rooms, shed porch across
front. One of few surviving cottages composing mill village which served
Prattville Cotton Mills.
31. 334 Third Avenue; c. 1900; one story, frame with brick pier foundation,
rectangular (four-bay front, double entrances) with ell, gable roof, central
chimney serving two main rooms, shed porch at front. Built as part of mill
village serving Prattville Cotton Mills (now Gurney Manufacturing).
33. 209 North Court Street (Cook house); c. 1925; one story, frame, basically
square with asymmetrical front composed of slightly advanced left bay,
hipped roof breaking into shallow gable over projecting front bay;
pier-and-post porch across front and along one side.
34. 217 North Court Street (Esco house); c. 1900; one story, frame, basically
square with asymmetrical front composed of slightly advanced right bay,
hipped roof breaking into shallow gable over projecting front bay;
pier-and-post porch.
35. 221 North Court Street (Golden house); c. 1900; one story, frame (now
sheathed with composition brick siding), hipped roof, low gabled front porch
(c. 1930) with brick-pier and post supports.
36. 231 North Court Street (McHearg house); c. 1925; one story, frame (shiplap
siding), California bungalow-type house with wide eaves and broad front
gable extending over brick-pier porch. Significant because very little
altered externally.
Xo ^ 37. 233 North Court Street (McHearg house); c. 1880; one story, frame,
rectangular (four-bay front with double entrance), gable roof, central
chimney serving two main rooms, shed porch across front, six-over-nine
sashing. Built as part of late-19th century mill village.
-"' 38. 245 North Court Street (Johnson house); c. 1895; one story, frame (shiplap
siding), rectangular (four-bay front with double entrance), gable roof,
central chimney serving two main rooms, four-over-four sashing, four-panel
doors; original porch replaced by brick-pier porch. Built as part of mill
village associated with Prattville Cotton Mills (now Gurney Manufacturing).
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 6_________________
253 North Court Street (Evans house); C./1935; one story, frame (shiplap
siding), vernacular version of Calif orniav~bungalow type with
forward-projecting brick-pier porch, asymmetrical facade, four-over-four
sashing.
m. 40. 174 Fifth Street; c. 1890; one story, frame (shiplap siding), rectangular
(three-bay front) with low ell at rear, gable roof, two exterior end
chimneys; original porch now replaced by c. 1925 gabled pier porch; other
later changes include partial replacement of early four-over-four sashing
and present siding.
7* 41. 164 West Fifth Street (Durden-Miller-Misseldine house): 1885; one story,
frame (originally on brick pier foundation), asymmetrical three-bay front
with gabled left-bay projection, full-length front porch with flatwood
balustrade and scrollcut brackets, nine-over-nine sashing.
** 43. 152 West Fifth Street (Kelly house); c. 1925; one story, frame (shiplap
siding), truncated hipped-roof extending over porch and terminated by a
slightly pitched gable, modified bungalow type with unusual crisscross brick
pier-and-post supports.
46. 120 West Fifth Street (Ward-King house); c. 1890; one story, frame,
asymmetrical front with offset gabled bay projecting from main gable,
abutting porch (original porch now replaced by shed-roof porch carried on
, •; •• trellis supports).Jv-'-- '
48-49. 223 and 227 Chestnut Street; c. 1910; pair of one-story shotgun-type
dwellings apparently built as unit and originally identical; frame with
longitudinal gable extending over front porch; #227 has original trellis
porch supports; #223 now covered with synthetic siding, wooden supports
replaced by wrought iron.
50. 205 Chestnut Street (Meeks house); c. 1880; one story, frame, rectangular
(four-bay front, double entrances) with rear wing, gable roof, shed porch
with chamfered and bracketed supports across front, nine-over-nine sashing;
two-room plan; original central chimney now removed, low gabled wing added
to side c. 1955. Built as part of mill village serving Pratt industrial
complex.
tf
52. 201 Chestnut Street (Post house); c. 1925; one story, frame (shiplap
siding), bungalow type with broad, bracketed gable at front and projecting
gable extension over off-center, brick-pier porch, six-over-six sashing.
164 West Fifth Street (Planter's Cotton Warehouse); c. 1880; one story,
brick, rectangular, segmentally arched doorways (now largely infilled),
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 7_________________
decorative beltcourse articulating portals and upper portion of walls.
Significant as reflection of intertwining of cotton-based agrarian economy
and early industry in Prattville.
55. 133 West Fifth Street (Garrett house): c. 1885; one story, frame,
rectangular (four-bay front, double entrances) with ell, gable roof, central
chimney serving two main rooms, half-hipped porch with scroll-sawn trim;
nine-over-nine sash; 20th century gabled extension to one side. Externally
one of better preserved of 19th-century worker's houses in Prattville.
-57. 121 West Fifth Street (Jones house); c. 1890; one story, frame, rectangular
(four-bay front) with ell, gable roof, central chimney, half-hipped porch
across front (now screened).
58. 130 Fourth Street (Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church): c. 1891; one story over
raised basement, frame (now covered with brick veneer except for pediment of
facade), rectangular with gable roof and projecting corner belltower capped
by pyramidal steeple, Gothic window openings all round. Building severely
altered in 1953, including brick veneer and present brick-pier porch.
African Methodist Episcopal congregation purchased church site in 1891 for
$150 from estate of Merrill Pratt, Daniel Pratt's nephew. Church erected
soon afterward.
• 61. 106 Chestnut Street (David Hall house); c. 1880; story and a half, frame,
rectangular main block (three bay facade), gable roof with large cross-gable
over central or entrance bay, L-shaped porch across front and one side with
elaborately-cut scrolled brackets and original flat wood balustrade, narrow
flush-board sheathing, double-leaf main door with sidelights and transom
flanked by floor-length windows, arched and shuttered second floor windows.
Reputedly built for David Hall; now W. Clarence Atkeison law office.
Compare with #148 (A. F. Fay house).
62. 117 North Chestnut Street (Lowery house); c. 1890; one story, frame,
asymmetrical front, gable roof with cross-gable over projecting front bay,
L-shaped porch along reentrant angle of facade with chamfered posts and flat
wood balustrade. Externally, good and little-altered example of
middle-class late-19th century residence. House may have evolved from
earlier two-room dwelling through gabled addition at front.
65. 141 North Chestnut Street (Hunt-Rawlinson house); c. 1900; one story,
frame, hipped roof breaking into secondary pedimented gables extending over
asymmetrical advanced bays at front and sides, L-shaped porch across front
and along one side (original porch supports now replaced by brick-pier and
post construction).
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES DAT£
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 8_________________
J" 66. 216 North Chestnut Street: c. 1890; one story, frame on brick-pier
foundation, irregular shape, slate-covered gable roof with cross gable;
originally may have been oriented south instead of west toward Chestnut
Street; later changes include brick-pier porch on south elevation.
"?3 67. 214 North Chestnut Street; c. 1880; frame, one story, rectangular (four-bay
front) with ell, gable roof, central chimney serving two main rooms (each w
ith separate entrance from front porch); five-bay half-hipped porch with
scrollcut flatwood balustrade and bracketed supports; nine-over-nine
sashing. Possibly built as worker f s cottage in connection with Prattville
Cotton Mills (now Gurney Manufacturing).
• ' 68. 101 East Fifth Street (Chambliss house); c. 1920; one story, frame,
modified bungalow type with broad gabled roof pierced by triangular louvered
dormers, central chimney, small gabled stoop with Tuscan colonnettes plus
inset corner porch carried on pair of brick corner piers.
^ 69. 109 East Fifth Street (George house); c. 1925; one story, frame,
California-bungalow type with broad frontal gable from which smaller offset
gable extends over brick-pier porch.
5/70. 115 East Fifth Street (Cook house); c. 1880; one story, frame, gable roof
with shed extension at rear. Originally four-bay millworker's house with
two-room plan; front heavily altered in bungalow manner c. 1925, including
rearrangement of fenestration and addition of brick-pier and post porch with
broad front gable.
(,£• 73. 147 East Fifth Street (Weir-Garner house); c. 1860; one story, frame, gable
roof (probably central chimney originally) with later shed across rear;
massive bungalow-type gabled porch added to front c. 1925. May be early
millworker* s dwelling.
5^ 74. 153 East Fifth Street (Hunt-Sullivan house); c. 1880; one story, frame,
gable roof, central chimney serving two front rooms, shed porch across
front, large gabled extension to rear; original sash now replaced by
aluminum nine-over-six sashing.
tj 75. 171 East Fifth Street (Hunt-Stoudemire house); c. 1880; frame, gable roof,
central chimney, asymmetrical five-bay front, half-hip porch across front
originally supported by scrollcut bracketed posts now replaced (except for
engaged posts) by brick-pier and wood supports.
& 76. 209 North Washington Street (Lindsey house); c. 1900; one story, frame,
rectangular (four-bay front) with rear ell, gable roof, two-room main block
with separate doorways, shed porch across front; later alterations include
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 9_________________
shiplap replacement of earlier siding, wrought-iron porch supports replacing
turned posts.
79. 110 East Fifth Street (Wyatt house); c. 1930; one story, frame (shiplap
siding) modified bungalow type with broad frontal gable; smaller telescoped
gable extends over now-enclosed front porch.
80. 113 East Fifth Street (Wadsworth-Roach house): c. 1930; one story, frame,
modified bungalow type with broad frontal gable and abutting smaller gable
telescoped over brick-piered porch.
81. 120 East Fifth Street (Nixon-Jackson house); c. 1930; one story, frame,
modified bungalow-type with broad frontal gable over brick-piered porch
intersecting main hipped roof.
83. 138 East Fifth Street (Kilgore house); c. 1930; story and a half,
rusticated precast concrete block, California bungalow-type with broad
frontal gable from which lesser offset gable extends to cover porch, lateral
gable extends over original porte-cochere; asbestos shingles now sheath
gable ends.
85. 137 North Washington Street (Smith-Bayard house): c. 1890; two story,
frame, irregular square with asymmetrical (three-bay) front, tall hipped
roof broken by off-center pedimented gable extensions, bracketed eaves,
one-story porch across partial front and north side with original turned
posts, spindle frieze, balustrade; porch abuts segmentally curved bay window
topped by railed deck; notable double-leaf Eastlake-style doorway. House
represents two-story version of asymmetrical, hipped-roof cottage type
residence which abounded in late 19th-century Prattville; also one of city's
best preserved and least altered Victorian-period structures.
87. 113 North Washington Street (Hannon house): c. 1890; frame, tall hipped
roof with gabled extensions; asymmetrical front with projecting left bay
abutting L-shaped porch extending around N side and retaining original
turned posts and balustrade.
88. 105 North Washington Street (Wilkinson-Avant house); c. 1895; one story,
frame (shiplap siding) on latticed brick foundation; irregular shape with
asymmetrical facade, gable roof with cross gables accented by matchstick
siding and fishscale shingles; shallow polygonal mansarded bay at front with
abutting mansarded porch enclosing two-story mansarded entrance tower; metal
cresting originally trimmed mansarded portions of roof. One of best and
least-altered examples of Victorian-period domestic architecture in
Prattville; now abandoned and severely deteriorated.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ___________ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 1Q________________
? 89. 157 East Fourth Street; c. 1939; two story, white-painted brick,
rectangular (five-bay) main block with one-story side and rear extensions,
gable roof, pedimented doorway. Exception to 50-year criteria; considered
singularly fine example of period "colonial" house of type popular
1925-1940.
: 90. 145 East Fourth Street (Henry Bell house); 1935; one story, brick,
essentially rectangular with smaller frame side wings, gable roof with
decorative neoclassical cornice, five-bay front centering upon semi-recessed
pedimented portico with clustered, attenuated Tuscan-order colonnettes,
tympanum bears bas-relief Adamesque escutcheon. Good example of 1920-40
"period house" which reinterprets Federal-period motifs.
- 91. 133 East Fourth Street (Golson house); c. 1885; frame, rectangular
(three-bay front) with ell, gable roof with central cross gable, exterior
end chimneys (now partially dismantled). Much altered from original
condition including replacement of original porch with small shed-roofed
stoop; two-over-two sashing (bipartite windows at front).
'•* 92. 117 East Fourth Street (Northington-Ross house); c. 1895; one story, frame,
asymmetrical front with three-bay porch (turned posts and scroll-cut
brackets) abutting gabled bay projection; main hipped roof breaks into
frontal and lateral secondary gables embellished at apex with open
scroll-cut trim.
95a. 100 East Fourth Street (First United Methodist Church); 1912; brick,
stylized neo-Tudor design with vestigial transepts (externally expressed
only), crenellated corner entrance tower/belfry; original Sunday school area
adjoins sanctuary to south (rear). Built to replace 1853 structure given by
Daniel Pratt, himself a Methodist layman, adjoining original factory complex
on south side of Autauga Creek. Educational building (non-contributing, see
95b) erected 1958. Main structure gutted inside and extensively rebuilt
1968; present steps added to entrance tower.
(• 96a. 178 East Fourth Street (St. Mark's Episcopal Church); 1909; vernacular
Gothic Revival; brick, rectangular nave and chancel with adjoining sacristy
and projecting corner tower capped by pyramidally-roofed belfry; windows
originally had pointed wooden sashing with art glass (now partially replaced
by stained glass). Brick parish house (non-contributing; see 96b) added
1950; repeats general lines of church (gable profile of social hall
steepened in 1984).
"; 98. 129 East Third Street (Gipson house); 1888; one story, frame; extensively
altered for H. E. Gibson c. 1915 by addition of side wing and bungalow-type
porch across front; roofline may also have been changed at this time.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES DATE ENTERE0
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 11________________
Original (two-over-two) sash survives in most windows. Now owned by First
Baptist Church.
100. 239 South Chestnut Street (Norton-Anderson house); c. 1925; one story,
frame, California-bungalow type with broad front gable from which offset
secondary gable and adjoining flat-roofed extension projects over
full-width, brick-pier porch. Built for Harry W. Norton upon his marriage
to Nora Ellen Sims, daughter of Wilbur Fisk Mims and granddaughter of
Autauga County historian Shadrack Mims.
(tf 101. 120 South Chestnut Street (Buckner house); c. 1890; one story, frame,
gabled roof with pedimented cross-gable covering right-bay extension of
facade; abutting porch now carried by cast-iron supports, replacing original
turned posts.
: 104. 206 South Chestnut Street (Ticknor-Hazen house); c. 1850; one story, frame
(flush boarding at front), rectangular (five-bay front) with offset wings at
north side and rear, main roof hipped, neoclassical box cornice; c. 1885
Eastlake-style five-bay porch (replacing earlier Greek Revival-style
veranda); second porch at rear; nine-over-nine sashing (main block);
center-hall plan. Built as four-room cottage by Daniel Pratt for niece,
Mary Ticknor, who married James K. Hazen, employee of the Pratt gin factory.
Later Hazen studied theology and served as pastor of Prattville Presbyterian
Church from July 1861 to July 1877. Afterward occupied by Prattville mayor
James Burns, who made rear-wing additions and probably erected present
porch. Little altered since 1900; today abandoned and deteriorated.
Architecturally and historically a structure of major importance in the
19th-century Prattville townscape.
"7/107. 152 East Third Street (Cobb-Westbrook house); c. 1930; one story, frame,
with shiplap siding, bungalow style with broad gabled roof parallel to
street; two-bay brick-pier porch covered by shed roof breaking from front
slope of main gable; pair of exterior end chimneys at each gable end. Built
for
^ 108. 170 East Third Street (Johnson-Pirtle house); (1936; one story, frame,
bungalow type with wide-eaved, lateral gable roof from which secondary
frontal gable extends over brick-pier porch.
218 South Washington Street (Bateman house); 1921; one story, frame (shiplap
siding), rectangular with gable roof, smaller cross-gable to front extending
over off-center porch carried on wooden piers with brick pedastals; both
main gable and gable over porch splayed at eaves line; good and
little-altered example of modest, early 20th-century bungalow.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 12___________________
/;:- 111. 266 South Washington Street (Griffin-Wilkinson house); c. 1930;
story-and-a-half, precast concrete block, essentially rectangular with
lateral carport and porch extensions, gable roof with two dormers, five-bay
front with central door framed by pedimented Tuscan-order stoop, flanking
six-over-six windows. Built by Carl Griffin.
}4 114. 139 East Main Street (Stewart-Murphree-Smith house); c. 1900; one story,
frame, gable roof with cross-gable over ell at rear as well as slightly
projecting left front bay; half-hipped full-length porch with turned posts
and balustrade.
'fa 115. 141 East Main Street (Bateman house); c. 1900, one story, frame, tall
hipped roof broken by offset front pedimented gable extending over slightly
projecting bays, bichromatic slate roof, full-length porch now carried on
brick piers (original supports removed); two-over-two sash. Built by James
M. Bateman.
/• 117. 199 E. Sixth Street (NW corner Northington); c. 1850, 1895; story and a
half; frame, rectangular (three-bay front) with ell, gable roof, porch
across front and around E side. Renovated c. 1895 and later including
rebuilding of chimneys in present corbeled form, addition of large central
dormer, replacement of original porch supports and balustrade; c. 1970
carport addition at E side abutting porch.
1"| 119. 159 North Northington Street; c. 1912; one story, frame, hipped roof with
secondary gable extension over S elevation bay window; basically rectangular
with wrap-around shed porch at front and S side. Originally occupied by
Collier family.
; 121. 159 North Northington Street; 1913; one story, frame, broad and shallow
combination hip-and-gable roof with wide, bellcast eaves extending over deep
porch with battered piers at front and S side; ornamental front gable
embellished by latticed ribbon windows and lozenge-shaped vents. One of
most distinguished of Prattville's early 20th century nouses, combining
elements of Craftsman design with residual Queen Anne traits. Minor
exterior alterations include installation of incompatible six-panel front
door.
•/<? 123. 132 North Northington Street; c. 1900; one story, frame, irregular shape,
combination gable and hipped roof, two-bay front with half-hipped porch
(original turned supports and balusters now removed); multiple pedimented
gables retain fishscale shingling and stickwork ornament. Built by W. W.
Dunkin.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 13___________________
g 124. 217 Wetumpka Street; c. 1900; one story, frame, gable roof with offset
cross-gable and extruded bay window; original inset porch abutting
projecting gable replaced c. 1960 by stoop with cast iron supports.
Occupied by Rice, Archibald, Gresham, Bateman, Searcy and Cranfield
families.
/M 125. 225 Wetumpka Street: c. 1910; story and a half, frame, modified California
bungalow style with broad sloping roof terminated by hipped-roof "California
room" (second-floor sunroom); front slope of roof extends over brick-pier
porch. Later alterations include removal of original sash in solarium.
Built for William T. Northington.
i5/;I 126. 235 Wetumpka Street: c. 1905; one story, frame, combination hip and gable
roof with projecting polygonal bay at E side; original porch replaced c.
1920 by present brick-pier porch with terrace extension. Built as Baptist
pastorium.
; 127. 245 Wetumpka Street: 1906; one story, frame, gable roof with offset
cross-gables, projecting polygonat bay at W side; abutting wrap-around porch
at front and E side. Built for Dr. D. P. Jones, Sr.
129. 301 Wetumpka Street: c. 1855, 1895; one story, frame, rectangular (five-bay
front) with inset gabled ell; nine-over-nine sashing. Probably shallow
hipped roof originally (replaced c. 1895 by steeple hip and secondary
gables; also Classical Revival porch. Initially comprised of four rooms
with bisecting central hall. Build for William H. Northington, who came to
Prattville in 1850 from Mecklenburg County, N.C.; reputedly second house on
Wetumpka Street. Modern carport addition at rear.
M 130. 306 Wetumpka Street: c. 1855, 1880. One story, frame, rectangular
(five-bay front) with ell, gable roof with large central cross-gable,
wrap-around porch at front and sides with scrollcut balustrade and brackets;
center-hall plan. Built for M. D. Fisher, foreman at Daniel Pratt foundry;
originally four rooms bisected by central hall with nine-over-nine sash.
Heavily remodeled c. 1880 including addition of present porch, roof
configuration, and replacement of most of original sashing. One of oldest
houses in NE portion of Prattville historic district.
5^ 131. 129 North Northington (Dismukes house): c. 1930; one story, precast
concrete block, bungalow with gable roof, small covered stoop, side porch.
Carport added and porch enclosed since 1946.
y ! 132. 260 Wetumpka Street; 1935; one story, frame (shiplap siding), gable roof
with pair of projecting cross-gables flanking three-bay porch; modified
"early American." Built as second Methodist parsonage succeeding house next
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES MTnm®®m*
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 14
door (#133) and used as such until 1981. Echoes house-form seen repeatedly
in Montgomery area c. 1930-40 of facade with three major divisions and
advanced end bays. Exception to 50-year criteria: unique as district's
only instance of this house- type.
''•• 133. 246 Wetumpka Street; c. 1880 and later; one story, frame, hipped roof,
three-bay front with recessed entry, pair of bay windows on W side,
originally porch at front. First Methodist Church parsonage until 1935.
Heavily altered c. 1905 and 1960s, including removal of porch, application
of modified neoclassical architrave around front entry, wings at side and
rear.
$ • •6<; 134. 216 Wetumpka Street: c. 1895; one story, frame, combination gable-and-hip
roof, asymmetrical front, porch with turned posts and balustrade across
front and S side. Built as parsonage for Methodist presiding elder
(district superintendent), adjoining First Methodist parsonage (#133) next
door.
5C/ 135 « 210 Wetumpka Street (Prattville Primary School and Prattville Academy site);
1927; one story, brick, hipped-roof three-bay central pavilion with lateral
wings terminated by gabled end pavilions; engaged Tuscan columns highlight
arcuated facade of central block; E-shaped overall form with auditorium
occupying central rear wing flanked by classroom wings. Built as Prattville
Grammar School just to north of now-destroyed Prattville Academy (1859,
razed 1929). Frank Lockwood of Montgomery, possible architect.
Semi-detached classroom additions (non-contributing) added to SE rear
1960-70; also four non-contributing classroom trailers to either side of
original structure.
/ Prattville Academy site (opposite Fourth Street intersection, now part of
Prattville Primary School grounds) . Site of two-story brick, Italianate
\ structure with belfry/cupola, built 1859 by Daniel Pratt to house Prattville
f v Male and Female Academy. Bell from academy building mounted on metal
platform at SW rear of schoolgrounds. Nearby stone marker erected by United
Daughters of the Confederacy in 1916 commemmorates Civil War unit,
Prattville Dragoons.
G! , 136. 123 South Washington Street; c. 1915, one story, frame, rectangular with
rear wing, gable roof, central chimney, two-room plan, four-bay front (two
front doors with outer flanking windows), full-length porch with half-hip
roof; original sashing and doors replaced; specimen of early Prattville
worker housing.
^ 138. 127 South Washington Street (Cook house); c. 1870 and later; two stories,
frame, rectangular (five-bay front) with ell; hipped roof (originally with
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTl NU ATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7_____PAGE 15___________________
bracketed eaves) extending over full-length double porch; recessed central
doorways at both first and second-floor gallery levels. Originally appears
to have been built as L-shaped structure with two front rooms and central
hall; extensively enlarged c. 1895; original wooden porch supports replaced
by brick piers c. 1925 (turned wooden balustrade retained at both levels).
Interior woodwork a mixture of elements dating c. 1870-1910. One of
earliest two-story dwellings in district.
-j/'s 140. 213 South Washington Street (Wynn house); c. 1930; one story, frame,
rectangular, gable roof with lateral extension over side porch, dormers,
five-bay facade with central door framed by pedimented stoop carried on
attenuated Tuscan colonnettes, six-over-six sashing; middle-class
"colonial."
•;// 141. 221 South Washington Street (Parrish-Frye house); c. 1895; one-story, frame,
tall hipped roof breaking into pedimented gable over two-bay asymmetrical
extension at front; four-over-four sash; original large porch replaced c.
1960 by small canopied stoop; also partial re-sheathing of front with
shiplap.
('** 146. 319 South Washington Street (Walker house) ; 1921; one story, frame,
bungalow type with broad front gable breaking into offset secondary gable
extending over brick-pier and post porch.
i,^ 148. 345 South Washington Street (A. F. Fay-Grouby house): c. 1880; frame
(shiplap at front), story-and-a-half, rectangular with parallel rear
extensions, gable roof with central cross-gable at front and parallel
cross-gables to rear (gable ends sheathed with scalloped shingle siding),
matchstick frieze beneath eaves at front and sides; full-length porch with
modified mansard roof carried on turned supports (scrollcut trim,
balustrade, and pierced work frieze); five-bay front with central door
(sidelights an transom), flanking floorlength shuttered windows. One of
best and least-altered c. 1880-1890 dwellings in district.
148a. 345 South Washington Street, rear (Fay servant house); c. 1880; one-story,
frame (board and batten); rectangular with gable roof, two disequal-sized
rooms served by central chimney; at least part of sashing is replacement;
possible that smaller or right room with batten door is earlier than 1880
and was incorporated when structure evolved into present form. Good example
of vanishing building-type: the domestic servant dependency.
^t 149. 403 South Washington Street (Fay-Mercer house); 1854; story and a half,
frame, rectangular main block (five-bay front), gable roof with two pairs of
end chimneys, originally Greek Revival-style pedimented central portico
(extended two bays to either side early 20th century), twelve-over-twelve
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE 16
sashing; center-hall plan. Built by George W. Coe.
Historic American Buildings Survey.
Photographed 1935 by
^ > 153. 326 South Washington Street (now Autauga Baptist Association office) ; c.
1930; one story, frame (shiplap siding); bungalow-type with wide eaves and
single front-facing gable covering main block; secondary gable extension
over off-center pier porch with lateral cross-gable over attached carport.
f' 154. 346 South Washington Street (Spigener house) : possibly pre-1836 nucleus;
story and-a-half, frame, rectangular (three-bay front), gable roof, formerly
two pairs of brick end chimneys, half-hipped brick-pier and post porch at
front; center hall plan; probably nine-over-nine sash originally. Renovated
at least twice: present main door with shouldered Greek Revival architrave
dates from c. 1850; present roof (including broad bracketed eaves), porch,
and sashing are early 20th C. House may originally have resembled other
story-and-a-half cottages in region such as Jasmine Hill, Ellerslie (Elmore
County) and Graves house (Lowndes County). Possibly "four room cottage"
referred to by Shadrach Mims (History of Autauga County, p. 25) as one built
by Joseph May, from whom Daniel Pratt purchased Prattville town site in
1836. Very significant as perhaps oldest structure in Prattville.
' 155. 163 First Street; c. 1930; one story, frame, modified California-bungalow
type with broad frontal gable and offset gabled porch.
-; 156. 149 First Street: c. 1850; story and a half, frame, rectangular (five-bay
front), gable roof, shed porch with chamfered supports (now on cinderblock
pedastals) across front; two pairs of exterior end chimneys,
twelve-over-twelve sash; center hall plan. In form and general character a
smaller, more vernacular version of the Coe-Fay house (site #149).
- 1 157. 137 First Street: c. 1890; one story, frame, rectangular (four-bay front,
double entrance) with ell, gable roof covered with pressed tin shingles,
five-bay half-hipped porch across front with chamfered posts and scroll-sawn
balustrade; two-room interior plan, central chimney. Typical late- 19th
century Prattville workers* cottage.
>d 158. 131 First Street; c. 1890; one story, frame, rectangular (four-bay front,
double entrance) with ell, gable roof with pressed tin shingles, central
chimney serving two main rooms, half -hipped porch with chamfered posta and
scrollcut trim; typical late-19th century Prattville millworker f s cottage.
<f 15 9- 135 First Street (behind site #158); c. 1840; one story, frame, rectangular
(three-bay front), gable roof, single room with central door and flanking
six-over-nine sash windows, shed porch with chamfered supports and flatwood
balustrade. Built as part of Mims Hotel complex (see also #161, 164) and
FHR-8-300A
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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE mm^m
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 17___________________
joined to main hotel structure by porch before hotel structures moved to new
site in 1982. Once bedroom of Miss Annie Mims. Present porch a
fabrication.
\& 160. 133 First Street (behind site #158); c. 1895; one story, frame (shiplap
siding), rectangular (four-bay front, two doors), hipped roof, cefntral
chimney, two-over-two sashing; two-room interior plan. Built as part of
Mims Hotel complex; moved to present site 1982; porch is reconstructed
fabrication.
:; 162. 123 First Street (Anthony-Booth-Wilkinson house): c. 1883; two-story with
one-story lateral extension, frame, main block has frontal gable with lower
cross gable over side wing, demioctagonal projecting bay, porch with turned
posts, scrollcut brackets and balustrade; two-over-two sashing. Built by
William Anthony; restored 1982 as part of Prattvillage commercial area.
!<•'{ 163. 121 First Street (Mims Hotel); c. 1840, one story, frame with flush-board
facade, rectangular (five-bay front), gable roof, two interior chimneys at
ridge, shed porch across front with latticed trelliage supports linked by
scrollcut flatwood balustrade; nine-over-nine sashing; center hall plan.
Formerly nucleus of Mims Hotel complex on Third Street. Moved to present
site 1982 and restored as part of Prattvillage commercial complex (see also
#160, 161).
/£* 167. 317 South Chestnut Street (Wright house); c. 1925; one story, frame
(shiplap siding), California-bungalow type with broad bracketed frontal
gable, lesser offset gable extending over porch and breaking into lateral
gable covering porte-cochere at side; four-over-one sashing.
/ ? 168. 102 East Main Street (MeWilljams-Smith house); c. 1850; story and a half,
frame on high brick-pier foundation (now infilled), main block rectangular
(five-bay front), gable roof with molded cornice, two pairs exterior end
chimneys, central pedimented tetrastyle Greek Revival portico with original
wooden balustrade; six-over-six sash; center-hall plan. Reputedly built for
A. K. McWilliams; later owned by Amos Smith and son, George Smith, who
started Daniel Pratt f s sash and blind factory in 1850. Original louvered
windowblinds given c. 1940 by Rice family (descendants of Smiths) for
restoration of Buena Vista mansion near Prattville. One of at least two
generically similar houses (see also #20 and #149) in Prattville historic
district, all built c. 1845-55.
//J 169. 342 South Chestnut Street (Scott house); c. 1890; story and a half, frame,
rectangular with later rear additions, gable roof with offset cross-gable to
front, three-bay facade with central door and flanking double
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 18
(four-over-four) windows, shed porch across front with scrollcut brackets
and flatwood balustrade.
r 170. 340 South Chestnut Street (Tumlin house): c. 1875; one story, frame,
rectangular (four-bay front, single door) with rear wing, gable roof;
present wrought-iron porch c. 1950. Reputedly built as servant house.
„' 172. 113 West Main Street (Suzuki World); c. 1940; one story, white-painted
brick, provincial expression of moderne influence with rounded corners,
absence of decorative embellishment so as to achieve "streamlined"
appearance; advanced three-bay commercial bay with adjacent setback
containing garage/repair shop. Built jointly on Dave R. Yarbrough and Terry
Walls as Plymouth dealership. Exception to 50-year criteria: Prattville's
only example of moderne architectural influence.
: 176. 131 West Main Street; c. 1900; one story, brick with paneled parapet
containing pair of cast iron ventilator grilles; originally two-bay
storefront (now aluminum and glass with canopy). Built for C. E. Thomas;
formerly housed Behrendson Bakery.
/'t 177. 133-135 West Main Street; 1915; one story, brick, two-bay storefront with
pair of recessed entrances (now altered); single transom once spanning both
bays now filled with corrugated metal. Built for C. E. Thomas.
' : 178. 137-141 West Main Street; c. 1895; two stories, brick with drip-corbeled
parapet surmounting four grilled attic ventilators; four segmentally arched
four-over-four windows above, two unit storefront with recessed entries and
flanking stair door below. One of better preserved turn-of-the-century
commercial facades in district.
/ ;, 180. 147-149 West Main Street (Rawlinson-Gay building); 1899; two stories, brick
with double denticulation at parapet level, partially concealed shallow
hipped roof, three segmentally arched windows at second floor level,
two-unit commercial front below (now extensively altered). Built for E. J.
Rawlinson as Rawlinson's Mercantile.
/ / 181. 151-153 West Main Street; c. 1900; one story, brick with elaborately
neoclassicized facade composed of Corinthian pilastrade surmounted by
modillioned and denticulated cornice with egg-and-dart molding; divided into
two commercial units: east unit consisting of two arcuated bays, west unit
composed of three glazed bays (central recessed door with flanking display
windows). Built for Howard S. Doster. One of most lavishly treated and
best preserved of smaller commercial structures in district.
FHR-8-300A
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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY « NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7______PAGE 19_________________
^? 182. 155 West Main Street; 1912; one story, buff brick facade with stepped
parapet; original continuous transom with opaque glass accentuated by
emerald border still survives above c. 1960 aluminum canopy and storefront.
Built for W. G. Robertson as mercantile establishment.
•'"•' 183. 159 West Main Street; 1905; two stories, brick with parapet articulated by
corbeled beltcourse; two-unit storefronts below, two windows above. Each
three-bay storefront unit preserves original cast-iron supports. Built for
Howard S. Doster, (now partially occupied by Progress Printing).
lie- 184. 161 West Main Street; 1903; one story, brick with two-bay paneled brick
parapet; c. 1960 aluminum canopy and storefront. Formerly Behrendson
Bakery.
' 185. 163-165 West Main Street; 1920; one story, brick with metal modillioned
cornice surmounted by parapet; divided into two commercial units with c.
1960 storefronts. Built for J. B. Bell.
/ - 189. 132-134 West Main Street (Hagler-Faulk building); 1900; two story, brick
(facade now stuccoed), divided into pair of three-bay units, slightly
corbeled parapet. Built as two separate structures housing store and Dr. J.
W. Hagler medical office.
!*'•> 190. 138-142 West Main Street (Spigner-Grouby building); c. 1895 (west half
1910); one story, brick, paneled brick parapet. Erected as two distinct
units, now functions as one. Originally housed Spigener furniture and
undertaking establishment. Older three-bay east unit retains cast-iron
storefront stamped "Chattagnnoa Roofing and Foundry Co."
•^- 191. 144 West Main Street (Hurd-Grouby-Odell building); 1912; one story, brick,
paneled brick parapet; original five-bay display area now partially altered
by insertion of two-bay recessed entry. Built by W. G. Kurd.
\V* 192. 146 West Main Street (Ellis-Newton building); 1900; one story, brick,
originally two-unit commercial structure. Facade now stuccoed and units
combined as single front. Initially occupied by merchants D. N. Smith, Sr.,
and J. Norton Rice.
150-152 West Main Street; 1900; one story, brick with plain parapet above
molded cornice; two units built initially as store and office by S. D.
McLemore.
154 West Main Street (Wilkinson-Musgrove building); 1900; one story, brick
with molded parapet, drip-corbeled beltcourse; still retains original
three-bay street front with central door and flanking display windows; later
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET _____________ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 20_______
metal awning. Built for Dr. J. E. Wilkinson as part of range including
adjacent drugstore (site #195); served as sometime Prattville post office.
One of least-altered commercial facades in Prattville historic district.
;/ 196. 160 West Main Street (Prattville Rexall Drugs): 1904, c. 1928; one story,
brick; originally two separate buildings (west half built 1904 as First
National Bank; east half built 1907 for Prattville Drug Co.). East building
burned 1928 and rebuilt on same site as present drugstore. In 1957, drug
company purchased west structure and incorporated it into Prattville Rexall
Drugs, entailing construction of present single stuccoed facade.
/ / ? 197. 164-166 West Main Street (Downtown Grocery/Godwin Hardware): c. 1900; two
stories, brick; four-bay upper floor with two-part windows topped by
quarry-faced ashlar banding; Modillioned neoclassical metal cornice capped
by molded brick parapet. Built as two-unit structure for J. T. Floyd.
/, 3 198. 172 West Main Street (Red Arrow Hardware); c. 1860; one story, brick with
heavily corbeled cornice, formerly single entrance bay at front leading into
cotton storage area surrounded by open sheds. Storage yard eliminated late
1930s and rebuilt as commercial unit; display windows introduced into
original one-bay facade. Built by Daniel Pratt as cotton warehouse for
Prattville Manufacturing Company.
•:/ 199. 176 West Main Street (formerly Prattville Mercantile Co.); c. 1855; two
stories, brick, rectangular, four-bay facade to south, west elevation marked
by slightly advanced blind end pavilions; corbeled and denticulated
beltcourse above second-floor windows, surmounted by raised attic; shallow
hipped roof sloping back from corbeled brick cornice; original
twelve-over-twelve sashing. Architecturally one of most significant
antebellum commercial structures surviving in central Alabama. Historically
important as company store (commissary) built by Daniel Pratt for mill
operatives. First-floor bays replaced c. 1900 by iron-and-glass commercial
front; this in turn replaced c. 1960. Upper floor largely unaltered.
200. 173-187 West Main Street (Bell-Thomas building): 1921; one story, buff
brick facing, metal modillioned cornice surmounted by brick parapet. Built
as eight-unit commercial building (each unit three-bays each) by J. B. Bell
and C. E. Thomas.
201. 115 Maple Street (Wainwright-Smith-Cook house): c. 1860; one story, frame,
rectangular (four-bay front) with extensive rear wing additions, gabled main
block with shed extension behind; four-bay deck-roofed porch (possibly
second generation) with chamfered and molded columns, pierced-work wooden
railing. Former separate kitchen and servants 1 quarters moved and attached
to rear of house c. 1900. Built for James Wainwright, mechanic at Pratt
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7______PAGE 21_________________
factory complex. Only unaltered residence surviving from mid-19th century
residential area immediately surrounding original factory buildings on south
side of Autauga Creek.
}iA 204. 124 Maple Street (Barnes-Cavnar house): 1898; one story, frame, tall
pyramidal roof breaking into slightly advanced, pedimented gables at front
and sides (original leaded sash in gable pediments and single front dormer),
shallow bay window to left of central doorway, porch extending partially
across front. Extensive exterior and interior alterations c. 1960 including
replacement of original front door, window sashing, and porch supports by
incompatible elements; also construction of screened side porch on east
side. Original separate kitchen structure moved and connected to west side
of house, then extensively altered as wing to main block. Built for W. H.
Barnes, Sr.
206. Bush Hog-Continental Gin complex (incorporating earliest portion of Pratt
industrial complex): W side of Autauga Creek. Includes two structures
surviving from antebellum manufacturing establishment, and three other
structures built between 1896 and circa 1925, plus sites of other component
buildings, now destroyed. (See diagrammatic map showing component
structures and sites composint #207 and #208.) Interior spaces of all
buildings essentially open, or subdivided by temporary partitions.
l^C (a) Sash, Door, and Blind Factory; c. 1849 and later; oldest surviving
structure of entire industrial complex. Three stories over full
ground floor; brick (common bond) with corbeled cornice; approx. 220'
long by 30' wide (easternmost end-section of building canted slightly
to follow contour of Autauga Creek shoreline) and to accommodate
subterranean flume beneath building); twelve-over-twelve wooden
sashing throughout; gable roof. Corbie-stepped parapet walls denote
five-bay first section of structure (erected c. 1849); fifteen-bay
extension added soon afterward. Still visible on water side of
building (basement level) is pair of arched openings denoting location
of 60 horsepower water-powered wheel which originally drove machinery
in this and adjoining building. In 1857 structure housed (besides
sash, door, and blind factory) a grist mill, machine shop, and
carriage and wagon factory.
/3* 0>) Daniel Pratt Cotton Gin Factory: 1854-55; abutting SW end of sash,
door, and blind factory; three stories; brick (common bond) with
drip-corbel cornice; L-shaped (approx. 250 f x 50 f overall) with roof
terminated by hip at one end and gable at other (abutting gable sash,
door, and blind factory). Ridge of roof surmounted at right-antle
turn by square belfry with oval apertures. Twelve-over-twelve sash,
first and second floors; twelve-over-eight sash, third floor. Brick
FHR-8-300A
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONT.NUAT.ON SHEET _________________,TEM NUMBER ? PAGE 22 ———————————————————————-———————•———————————'————'
jack arches slightly sunken to receive thin plaster coat simulating
ashlar lintel. Still surviving on east wall are three raised wooden
letters from sign that once spelled out "DANIEL PRATT COTTON
MANUFACTORY."
: (c) Daniel Pratt Gin Company (later addition): abutting east end of
1854-55 building ("b") and parallel to building "a"; last major
19th-century building in complex on SW side of Autauga Creek. Built
1896; three stories; pressed brick, rectangular, twenty-five bays long
with intervening piers; gable roof; eight-over-eight sashing along
each side. East end of structure (principal facade) distinguished by
doorway enclosed by massive Syrian arch with corbeled intrados.
Legend "DANIEL PRATT GIN CO." is worked out in raised terra cotta
lettering above door. Facade further enriched by terra cotta bancing
as well as quarry-faced ashlar sills and lintels. Much of exterior
now concealed by more recent adjacent construction. Building
represents last major phase of expansion before Pratt interests merged
with those of Continental Gin Company in 1899.
-; (d) Continental Gin Company warehouse (east of 19th-century complex:
1911; four stories; brick, rectangular (170 1 x 60'), seventeen bays
long with segmentally arched windows, shallow gable roof topped at
center of elevator housing. Essentially open interior with double row
of chamfered supports on each floor. Built on site of combination
church and store erected in 1853 by Daniel Pratt.
,;<] (e) Sheet Metal Department, S of 1911 Continental Gin warehouse ("d"):
built c. 1905; one story; brick (common bond) with corbeled brick
cornice; rectangular (ten bays long), gable roof with shed extensions
at each gable end, ventilators atop main ridge; two-part windows
(nine-over-nine sash) divided by wooden mullions (original wooden sash
now largely replaced by metal fold-out windows). More recent metal
buildings now abut brick structure at both north and south ends.
y-) (f) Site of Daniel Pratt Foundry (S of and parallel to original complex):
built c. 1860; one-story rectangular brick structure with stepped
parapets at either end of gabled roof, raised monitor; lower
rectangular brick extension at W end used for pattern storage. Entire
structure demolished c. 1965.
('/ (g) Site of Offices, Turntable, and Open Lumber Shed (between foundry site
and main complex): built c. 1860; offices housed in three-story brick
rectangular structure with shallow hipped roof. First floor bisected
in each direction by open passages; executive offices above. Abutting
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 23________________
structure to W was lumber shed. Office building linked to main
complex by masonry wall. Razed c. 1965.
L 00 Site of Fountain; erected c. 1855-57; circular fountain and pool
originally fed from tank atop buildings of main complex. Razed c.
1900 as factory expanded.
207. Gurney Industries, Inc. (originally Prattville Manufacturing Company), E
side of Autauga Creek. Composed of three main structures, all pre-dating
1900 (see diagrammatic map showing component structures and sites composing
#207 and #208). Structures originally housed textile enterprise developed
by Daniel Pratt as part of his Prattville industrial complex. Acquired by
Gurney Industries, Inc., in 1946 after passing through several intervening
ownerships. Present textile operations commenced in 1948. Mill converted
from waterpower to electricity in 1932.
.<// j (i) "Picker House" (now offices for Gurney Industires, Inc.), easternmost
of three main buildings in complex. Possibly built as early as
1850-60; two stories, brick with corbeled cornice; rectangular, gabled
roof, nine-over-nine sashing; formerly open interior plan. Originally
built to house cotton grading and selection activity associated with
adjacent textile mill (hence name "picker house"). Cotton unloaded
from rail head into this structure, where graded and assessed before
being sent to looms in adjoining building). Used as offices since
before 1946; interior greatly altered and subdivided.
Picker House still linked to factory next door by enclosed
steel-and-frame bridge at second-floor level predating 1884.
J (j) Prattville Manufacturing Company No. 1; 1887-88; three stories
over-basement, brick, rectangular (nineteen bays long) with square
stair tower at W end originally surmounted by ornate, bracketed
belfry; nine-over-nine sash throughout set into splayed reveals; open
interior plan with first two floors carried on double row of wooden
supports. Closed-stringer stair with turned balusters survives in
stair tower. Erected to replace 1859 brick textile mill heavily
damaged by freshet of March 30, 1886. (Predecessor building had, in
turn, succeeded brick and frame cotton factory erected in 1846 on same
site by Daniel Pratt.) Possible that walls of present structure
incorporate portions of 1859 building. Bracketed belfry removed 1981
because of deterioration.
j (k) Prattville Manufacturing Company No. 2 (immediately W of 1887-88
building): erected 1896 as near mirror image of 1887-88 structure
(k); three stories over basement, brick, rectangular (nineteen bays
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CU/78)UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ™ INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE 24
long) with square stair tower at E end originally surmounted by round
wooden water tank resting on bracketed base. One story brick boiler
room abuts building on West, near creek. At SW corner of main block
is two-story "picker house" wing also dating from 1896 (extended to
north c. 1930).• i .i
208. Autauga Creek Dam; c. 1920; reinforced concrete and steel with steel,
screw-driven sluice gates. Built to power cotton textile mills on east side
of creek, replacing previous earth-and-crib and brick dams on approximately same site. Sold to Continental Gin Company after mills converted to
electricity in 1932.
; $••
209 Pratt Cemetery (on brow of hill immediately south of Bush Hog-Continental
complex): rectangular graveyard approx. 50 x 80 feet, enclosed by brick and
cast-iron fence; also scattered early graves outside enclosure. Cemetery
established circa 1840 by Daniel Pratt for his family and friends, and for
mill operatives. Pratt and family members buried here, along with some of
atrisans which Pratt engaged for his industrial enterprises. Cemetery is
also burial place of George Cooke (1793-1849), prominent antebellum Southern
artist who painted many of pictures displayed in Pratt 's private art
gallery. Earliest marked grave is that of Daniel Pratt 's baby daughter,
Mary, who died 21 September 1843.
Grave monuments themselves include excellent example of mid-19th century
funerary art ranging from Greek Revival-style obelisks such as that marking
George Cooke grave to elavorately carved monument of Daniel Pratt.
Fence (ca. 1860) is likewise notable, being composed of elaborate iron panels cast with funereal weeping-willow motif and anchored between plain
brick piers with ashlar caps. Two of panels replaced in recent years.
Repeated damage by vandals has prompted city to erect chain link fence
around cemetery.
DANIEL PRATT HISTORIC DISTRICT: CONDITIONAL CONTRIBUTING PROPERTIES:
32. 203 North Court Street (formerly Thornton's Store): c. 1910; one-story,
frame (now covered with asbestos shingles), gable roof with shed-roof side
extension; three-bay front with central entrance, flanking display windows,
Originally built as store; more recently used as dwelling.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET 'TEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 25
I 35. 221 North Court Street (Golden house): c. 1900; one story, frame (now
sheathed with composition brick siding), hipped roof, low gabled front porch
with brick-pier and post supports.
42. 158 West Fifth Street (Elliot-Jones house); c. 1880; one story, frame
(aluminum siding), rectangular (four-bay front, double entrance) with ell,
gable roof, formerly central chimney serving two main rooms, half-hipped
porch across front with remnants of original scrollcut trim (supports now
replaced); nine-over-nine sash. Worker's cottage apparently once similar to
#133 Fifth Street.
56. 125 West Fifth Street (Faulk house): c. 1930; one story, frame with
asbestos-shingle siding, bungalow type with broad frontal gable from which
secondary gable is telescoped over brick-pier and post porch.
59. 122 West Fourth Street: c. 1890 and later; originally built as one-story
frame cottage with gable roof and ell. Bungalow-type porch with broad front
gable added c. 1925 and later filled in; large shed addition alos added to
west side after conversion of structure to commercial use. "Now property of
Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church."
60. 120 West Fourth Street (Smith house); c. 1860 and later; one story, frame
(asbestos shingle siding), rectangular (three-bay front) with rear wing;
hip-and-gable roof with narrow pedimented central porch (posts now replaced
by wrought iron supports). Heavily altered at various times, including
change in sashing, window proportions.
63. 125 North Chestnut Street (Atkeison house): c. 1890; one story, frame (now
covered with asbestos shingles and composition siding), asymmetrical
three-bay front, gable roof with cross-gable over projecting front bay;
two-bay porch with scrollcut flatwood balustrade and bracketed supports
abuts projecting bay.
; 64. 131 North Chestnut Street (Farrior house); c. 1885; one story, frame,
(asbestos shingle siding), rectangular (irregularly spaced five-bay front)
with rear wing, gable roof extending over full-length front porch with
scrollcut flat wood balustrade and bracketed supports, two-room plan with
double entrances; later gabled stoop at side.
; 77. 185 East Fifth Street (Nummy-Stoudemire-Haire house); c. 1870 and later;
two stories, frame (now aluminum siding), main block rectangular (three-bay
front) with hipped roof and offset pedimented gable, wrap-around porch
terminating at one end with porte-cochere, nine-over-nine sash downstairs,
two-over-two sash upstairs. Possibly built originally as one-story house;
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HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE 26
raised to two stories c. 1890; neoclassical stylistic elements suggest c.
1895-1910 date for present porch.
82. 126 East Fifth Street (Gillespie-Moody house): c. 1890; one story, frame,
tall hipped roof with lesser gabled extensions on main elevations, porch
abutting projecting front bay (original supports replaced c. 1925 by
brick-pier and post supports); original banjo work and scrollcut trim in
apex of front gable.
93. 109 East Fourth Street (Pigford house); c. 1900; one story, frame (aluminum
siding), asymmetrical (three-bay front) with forward-projecting bay
originally abutted by porch; gable roof with projecting cross-gable; porch
now replaced by open brick terrace with small covered stoop.
102. 130 South Chestnut Street: c. 1850, 1920; one story, frame (aluminum
siding), rectangular with broad gabled facade, nine-over-nine sashing.
Originally symmetrical five-bay house with four rooms and bisecting hall
probably resembling Smith house (#144) on Washington Street. Heavily
altered to modified bungalow style c. 1920, with gabled porch and
porte-cochere replacing original front gallery.
103. 148 South Chestnut Street (Pearce-Davis-Barnes house): c. 1880; two story,
frame, (aluminum siding), shallow hipped roof with broad eaves extending
over irregularly projecting bays at front and sides, single-story porch now
carried by wrought-iron supports wraps around front and partial south side.
House formerly one story; second floor added c. 1915. Original window and
door trim, two-over-two sashing still exist at first-floor level. Built by
Edmond T. Pearce; now divided into apartments.
106. 136 East Third Street (Cox house): c. 1900; one story, frame (now covered
with asbestos shingles); tall hipped, slate-covered main roof broken at
front and sides by projecting secondary gables; asymmetrical facade with
advanced left bay abutted by half-hipped porch (original supports now
replaced by wrought iron), remnant of original tendril-like scrollcut trim
in apex of gabled bay.
109. 180 East Third Street (Carr house); c. 1845; one story, frame (asbestos
shingle siding), rectangular (five-bay front) with double-leaf central
doorway surmounted by four-light transom; gable roof; nine-over-nine sash;
exterior end chimney on east side (possibly balanced at one time by another
on west); formerly center-hall plan. Present three-bay bungalow-type porch
at front dates from c. 1925; gabled addition at rear. One of oldest houses
in historic district.
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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 27
i 112. 119 East Main Street (Bateman house); c. 1925; one story, frame (now
covered with aluminum siding), California-bungalow type with broad frontal
gable beneath which lesser gable is telescoped over brick-pier porch; six
over six sash. Present structure may encase earlier four-room cottage.
113. 129 East Main Street (Steward-Vinson house); c. 1880; story and a half,
frame (now sheathed by aluminum siding), rectangular (three-bay front) with
broad ell, high gabled roof broken at front by central pedimented cross
gable, half-hipped porch (original supports replaced by wrought iron).
Built for Iremus Stewart.
116. 169 West Main Street; c. 1890; one story, frame (asbestos shingle siding),
gable roof (with central chimney originally), rectangular (four-bay front)
with ell. Typical operatives house, though now altered including removal of
original full-width front porch.
118. 167 North Northington Street; 1901; two stories, frame (aluminum siding),
combination hip and gable roof, asymmetrical front with projecting S bay,
one story porch across front and N side (small inset covered balcony at
second floor level above main door); first-floor porch balustrade and posts
now replaced. Original elements include Eastlake-style main door and art
glass dormer. House reputedly designed by Montgomery architect Frank
Lockwood for Graham family.
120. 141 North Northington Street; 1903; one story, frame (aluminum siding),
irregular shape with gable roof and projecting cross gables, bracketed
eaves; original L-shaped porch abutting projected N bay replaced c. 1930 by
brick-pier porch with concrete-slab floor. Built for W. W. Dunkin.
- 122. 140 North Northington Street; c. 1900; one story, frame (aluminum siding),
irregular shape, combination hip and gable roof, projecting bay at N front,
half-hipped inset porch (original supports now replaced). Housed
superintendent (1923-1945) of Autauga Cotton Mills.
j 128. 257 Wetumpka Street; c. 1890; two stories, frame (aluminum siding),
combination hip-and-gable roof, irregular front with slightly projecting
offset gabled bay (now altered by insertion of incompatible sash); one story
porch across front retains original turned supports, balustrade, and spindle
frieze; two-over-two sash. Built for Silas Wood.
129 South Washington Street; c. 1870; story and a half, frame (aluminum
siding), rectangular (three-bay front) with ell, gable roof, shed porch
across front (original supports and replaced with wrought iron);
six-over-six sash; center hall plan originally.
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(11/78)UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7_____PAGE 28_______________
>< 139. 205 South Washington Street; c. 1930; one story, frame (aluminum siding),
bungalow-type house with broad frontal gable and smaller gable telescoped
over brick-pier porch.
;2 143. 237 South Washington Street; c. 1910; two stories, frame (aluminum siding),
basically square with three-bay front and slightly projecting offsets to
each side; brick-pier and post porch extending on north side to form porte
cochere; side hall plan.
?!* 144. 249 South Washington Street (Smith-Pratt-Cooper house); c. 1845; story and a
half, frame (aluminum siding), rectangular with broad front-facing gable;
modified Palladian opening (large two-part window with flanking sidelights)
in main gable end, five-bay facade with double-leaf central door framed by
sidelights and transom and enclosed by channeled Greek Revival patternbook
facing with cornerblocks; nine-over-nine sashing. House may originally have
been domestic adaptation of pedimented temple-front; structure popular
during Greek Revival period. Moved from original location on Pletcher
Street in 1890s; subsequent changes include present porch (form of original
porch undetermined), wing at N side, rebuilt interior chimneys. Compare
with 130 South Chestnut Street (site #102) which possibly resembled this
house closely at one time. Despite alterations, one of earliest and most
historic residences in district; built for Dr. Samuel Parrish Smith from
Clinton, Georgia, early Prattville settler and father of Eugene Smith, first
State Geologist. Later home of Merrill Pratt, nephew of Daniel Pratt.
House possibly designed by Daniel Pratt.
-/I 150. 150 East First Street; c. 1895; one story, frame (asbestos shingle siding),
basically square with asymmetrical facade formed by offset projecting bay;
tall pyramidal roof broken at front, sides and rear by low secondary gables;
single large dormer at front with colored glass sash; full-length porch (now
screened) with turned posts and spindle frieze; turned and pierced work
bargeboards trim gables. House occupies site of c. 1850 structure for which
site #151 functioned as servants 1 quarters.
££ 151. 148 East First Street; nucleus c. 1850 with 20th C. additions; original
portion is one-room, frame, gabled structure erected as servant house for
dwelling which formerly stood on site of 1895 house at 150 First (site
#150). Pre-cast concrete block addition to south side c. 1930;
/^j 152. 176 East Main Street (Steere house); c. 1890; one story, frame (now covered
with aluminum siding), basically rectangular with ell, tall hipped roof
breaking into secondary gables on main elevations, demioctagonal end bay
surmounted by pedimented gable; six-bay porch with chambered and bracketed
supports, flatwood balustrade.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTI NUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7_____PAGE 29________________
2 164. 341 South Chestnut Street (Hunt-Dennison house); c. 1880; one story, frame
(now covered with asbestos siding), rectangular (four-bay front, two doors)
with ell, gable roof, central chimney serving two main rooms, porch with
scrollcut trim and flatwood balustrade. Typical late 19th-century worker's cottage.
£/ 166. 325 South Chestnut Street (Moates house); c. 1928; one story, frame (now
covered with asbestos shingles), modified California-bungalow type with
broad frontal gable breaking into lesser offset gable which extends over three-bay porch.
32 175. 129 West Main Street (Thomas building); 1926; one story, brick stepped and
molded parapet with inset date stone. Facade now sheathed with aluminum
siding above heavily altered display-window area. Built for C. E. Thomas.
•/;•; 179. 145 West Main Street (formerly 143-145 West Main) (T. I. McDowell, Jr. Law
Office); c. 1900; one story, brick (four-bay front) with molded metal
cornice surmounted by molded brick parapet (latter is accented by elongated
paneled insets filled with diagonally turned brick). Probably built as two-unit store. Aluminum storefront applied c. 1945; replaced by four-bay
brick veneer front in 1983). Facade has lost original character.
3'- 186. 167 West Main Street; c. 1905; one story, brick with c. 1940 Carrara glass
storefront later altered, including addition (c. 1960) of aluminum canopy and corrugated facing to upper portion of facade.
'& 195. 156 West Main Street (Murphy's Discount Drugs); 1900; one story, brick;
initially built as part of range including 154 Main Street (site #194).
Upper part of facade now covered with aluminum siding; streetfront display area drastically altered and combined from two former units into one.
3-202. 148 Maple Street (Pratt-Smith house); c. 1850; one-story, frame, gable
roof, rectangular; built originally as two-room, dogtrot-style servants'
quarters for Merrill Pratt house (#144) which once stood nearby. Now so
completely encased and altered by c. 1940-60 renovations as to conceal early
origin. Much of original framing and some batten sheathing survives beneath
present exterior weatherboarding. Changes include gabled porch, wings at
sides and rear, extensive readjustment and removal of interior partitions,
re-structuring of door and window openings. No early craftsmanship now
visible. Significant nevertheless for association with early Pratt family
domestic complex.
;'•;' 203. 138 Maple St. (Pratt-Barnes house); c. 1850; one-story, frame, gable roof,
rectangular main block with pair of interior chimneys offset behing ridge of
gable; originally two side-by-side rooms at front with two slightly smaller
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY --. NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 30
rooms immediately behind. Originally located on Maple Street near
Barnes-Cavnar house (#203). Moved c. 1935 and subsequently altered heavily
at various times. Only form and profile of main block (plus chimney
locations) denote early date; no 19-th century workmanship now visible
inside or out. Changes include new siding, dormers, replacement of old
windows with multipaned picture windows, gabled stoop (in place of
full-length shed porch), side wing addition; inside new doors, floors,
sashing, wallcoverings.
DANIEL PRATT HISTORIC DISTRICT (NON-CONTRIBUTING PROPERTIES):
$& 1. 235 South Court Street; 1950; one story, brick with parapet facade. Built
by T. A. Deason as Deason Mercantile; now vacant.
37 8. 145 South Court Street (Western Auto store); c. 1950; one story, stuccoed
brick with applied cornice.
b 9. 139 South Court Street (Prattville Barber Shop); c. 1950; one story,
stuccoed brick.
10-12. 137, 129, 117 South Court Street; c. 1950; three-unit commercial range; one
story, cinderblock with brick facade.
44. 114 West Fifth Street (Bice house); c. 1970; one story, brick, gabled roof.
45. 132 West Fifth Street (Moates house); c. 1970; one story, brick, gabled
roof.
'^47. 116 West Fifth Street (Ward-Ford house); c. 1945; frame with
asbestos-shingle siding, shallow gabled roof, small gabled porch at front.
" / 51. 203 North Chestnut Street: c. 1960; one story, frame with asbestos siding.
- : 54. 162-163 West Fifth Street (Alabama Cooperative Extension Building); 1974;
one story, brick and concrete, contemporary design.
• ? 71. 139 Fifth Street (Winberry house): c. 1950; one story, brick bungalow,
gabled roof with small gabled porch.
1 • 72. 141 East Fifth Street (McClellan house); c. 1965; one story, brick, gable
roof with stoop and side porch.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 31
> 78. 134 North Chestnut Street (Sherrill house); c. 1940; one story, brick
bungalow, gabled roof.
_>' 84. 150 East Fifth Street (Summerville house); c. 1950; one story, brick,
gabled roof.
' ' 86. 123 North Washington Street (Wyatt house); c. 1960; one story, ranch-style.
:4 94. 101 Fourth Street (Drs. Weinrib and Floyd offices); c. 1965; one story,
frame and fieldstone, pseudo-mansard roof.
V 95(b). 100 East Fourth Street (First Methodist Church educational building); 1958;
two stories, brick, adjacent to 1912 sanctuary (site #95a).
£- 96(b). 178 East Fourth Street (St. Mark's Church parish house); c. 1955 (enlarged
and remodeled 1984); brick, one story, gable roof.
; 97. 138 South Washington Street (First Baptist Church); 1953; brick,
pseudo-Georgian with steeple; educational additions 1965 and 1975.
;; 99. 119 East Third Street; 1960; one story, brick gable roof, bay window at
front.
' 105 « 211 South Chestnut Street (First Presbyterian Church); built 1941 as third
building for congregation established in 1846; brick with stone trim,
modified Gothic design with square belfry abutting nave at NE rear; later
chapel and educational addition.
142. 227 South Washington Street (Brown house); 1936; one story, frame, columned
porch with deck roof.
( 145. 311 South Washington Street; 1938; one story; frame with stained wood
shingle sheathing; gable roof with pair of forward-projecting cross gables
fronted by windows; porch and entry between.
/.'/ 147. 327 South Washington Street (Grouby house); c. 1936 one story, brick,
bungalow.
,',; 161. 143 First Street: c. 1940; two-story, frame and cement block, gable roof,
rental property,
> 165. 335 South Chestnut Street; c. 1940; one story frame house with aluminum and
synthetic brick siding, gabled roof and stoop
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
r*1?0NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET_________________ITEM NUMBER 7_____PAGE 32________________
& 171. 101 West Main Street (Prattville City Hall); 1973; one story, brick and
reinforced concrete.
C^ 173. 119 West Main Street (Yarbrough-Laney building): c. 1960; one story,
cinderblock with glazed aluminum front.
6TJ 174. 125 West Main Street (Jess Jordon Insurance): 1958; one story, stuccoed
brick, recessed glass front. Incorporates vestiges of earlier structure in
side walls.
65187. 102 West Main Street (U.S. Post Office); 1937, 1969; one story over
partially raised basement, marble-faced masonry structure. Original portion
of building erected 1937 as WPA project; structure doubled in size 1969 by
construction of new five-bay front addition in highly stylized neoclassical
manner. At same time, original facade demolished to create single interior
unit.
^ 188. 124 West Main Street (Bank of Prattville); 1956; enlarged 1973. Architects
for enlargement: Tiller, Butner and Rosa of Montgomery.
'p205. 100 Maple Street (Prattville Lodge No. 89, F & AM; 1952; two stories,
brick, rectangular, gable roof, metal casement windows.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER 7_____PAGE 33_______________________
DANIEL PRATT HISTORIC DISTRICT (SUPPLEMENTAL LIST)
CONTRIBUTING PROPERTIES;
'/-;• 212, 240 East First Street; c. 1890 (with possibly earlier nucleus and some later
modifications); one-story, frame, gable roof with asymmetrical facade and projecting
east bay, brick pier-and-post porch, two-over-two sashing. Moved c. 1960 from
present site of Citizens Bank (148 East Main Street). Formerly home of Charles
Alexander.
iA& 213. 248 East First Street: c. 1900; one-story, frame (shiplap siding), gable roof,
asymmetrical facade with advanced west bay abutted by porch.
^""' 215. 221 East First Street; c. 1890 and later; one-story, frame, rectangular (three-bay
front) with double-gabled wing at rear. Built for Fay family. Renovated c. 1925,
including addition of present brick-pier porch and carport; also replacement of
sashing and front door.
\A'+ 216. 225 East First Street; c. 1890 and later; one-story, frame with stained shingles
over original clapboard, rectangular (originally five-bay front) with ell, gable
roof, central doorway with sidelights and transom; central three-bay porch with
large bungalow-type front gable; original sashing four-over-four. Built for Fay
family. Roofline extensively altered c. 1925, including construction of present
porch gable (lower part of original chamfered porch supports also replaced by brick
pedastals); picture window replaced two left bays c. 1960. Reputedly both this
house and that listed as site #215 built for spinster sisters.
)<:{'/ 217. 245 East First Street: c. 1889; two stories on raised foundation; frame; irregular
shape with large, one-story L-shaped porch across front (S) and E side with Tuscan-
order colonettes and turned balustrade; shallow hipped roof with wide bracketed
eaves; four-over-four sashing. House replaced earlier dwelling which burned
(kitchen wing said to pre-date fire, has nine-over-nine windows). Present porch
dates from c. 1905.
J4-5 218. 326 College Street: before 1922; one-story, frame (shiplap siding), elaboration of
basic "shotgun" format with narrow front and deep lot; hipped roof with half-hipped,
two-bay porch. One of two formerly identical houses (see site #217) built as
rental property. Original box columns of porch now replaced by pseudo-Victorian
turned posts. Erected for a Mr. Goodson.
|4^' 219. 320 College Street; before 1922; one-story, frame (shiplap siding), elaboration
of basic "shotgun" format with narrow front and deep lot; hipped roof with half-
hipped, two-bay porch. Least-altered of two formerly identical houses (see site
#216) built as rental property. Erected for a Mr. Goodson.
1^,0 - /£/
220-221. 325 and 320 College Street; c. 1933; twin bungalows (one-story, frame with shiplap
siding, brick-pier porch, broad front gable) erected as rental property for Harry
Doster (see also site #220).
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE 34
;.222. 244 East Main Street (Poster house): 1933; one-story, frame (shiplap siding), main
block basically rectangular with rear wing, gabled roof with extensions to either
side over porte cochere and side porch; open terrace at front; central fanlight
"early American" doorway. Garage of same vintage to rear of house. Built for Harry
M. Doster.
r// 223. 256 East Main Street: c. 1934; one-story, frame (shiplap siding), bungalow-type
house with gable roof and inset corner porch; also small, gabled front stoop. Built
for Harry M. Doster (shortly after completion of adjacent Doster residence (site
#220) at 244 East Main.
4 22:4. 272 East Main Street (Davis-Hobbie house); c. 1907; two stories, frame, irregular
square, pyramidal roof with lesser offset gables over projecting bays; L-shaped
porch at front (N) and E sides featuring Tonic colonnettes with Scamozzi capitals
on brick pedastals. Modified center hall plan with large front "living hall." One
of several Prattville houses which once had artesian fountain in bay beneath leaded
glass window in dining room. Built for William Davis.
CONDITIONAL CONTRIBUTING PROPERTIES:
/ 211. 220 East First Street: c. 1850; story-and-a-half, frame (aluminum siding),
rectangular (five-bay front) with ell, gable roof, interior chimney between pair
of rooms to either side of central hall (each chimney set slightly back of roof
ridge); central pedimented distyle portico of vernacular Greek Revival design
(box columns now replaced by wrought-iron supports, although corresponding pilasters
remain); nine-over-nine sash. Built c. 1850, later owned by Presbyterian Church
and possibly used as manse; sold in 1889 to Fay family. One of oldest structures
in district.
2 214. 252 East First Street; c. 1875; one-story, frame (aluminum siding), rectangular
(four-bay front) with rear wing, gable roof, small three-bay porch with chamfered
supports; four-over-four sashing.
NON-CONTRIBUTING PROPERTIES;
\7f 210. 216 East First Street: c. 1950; one-story, frame with shingle siding, basically
rectangular, gable roof, small front stoop.
8. Significance
Period
prehistoric
1400-1499
1500-1599
1600-1699
1700-1799
_X_ 1800-1 899
1900-
Areas of Significance — Check
archeology-prehistoric
archeology-historic
agriculture
X architecture
art
commerce
communications X
and justify below
community planning
conservation
economics
education
engineering
exploration/settlement
industry
invention
landscape architecture
law
literature
military X
music
philosophy
politics/government
religion
science
sculpture
social/
humanitarian
theater
transportation
other (specify)
Specific dates 1836-1930 Builder/Architect Unknown
Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)
Criterion B: Industry
The Daniel Pratt Historic District is significant for its association with Daniel Pratt.
A New Hampshire born industrialist, inventor, manufacturer, architectural designer and
builder, Pratt was the equal of William Gregg of Graniteville, South Carolina in his
efforts as a champion of the cause of industrialization and the use of poor white labor
in the mills of the staunchly agrarian South. From 1838 until his death in 1873, Pratt
oversaw the development of his namesake town as a model Southern .industrial community.
In recognition of his efforts, the University of Alabama conferred the degree of Masters
of Mechanical and Useful Arts upon Pratt in 1847. By 1860 Pratt f s Gin Company, located
at Prattville, had become the most successful manufacturer of superior quality cotton
gins below the Mason-Dixon Line and his Prattville Manufacturing Company was one of the
leading producers of varied textile stocbe in Alabama. From 1861-1865 Pratt served in
the Alabama Legislature as a representative of Autauga County. After the War Between
the States, Pratt purchased extensive tracts of mineral lands in North Alabama and was a
pioneer in the development of the Birmingham Iron District. Pratt was the driving force
behind the development of Prattville. As J. D. B. DeBow described him, "his industry
knows no pediment or regards no toil. Night and day this man of enterprise may be found
at his post."
Criterion A: Industry/Social/Humanitarian
The Daniel Pratt Historic District is significant as probably the foremost example, in
Alabama, of a mid-19th century Southern industrial community in which all facets of
operation and social conditions were controlled by a single individual. The industrial
complex and village of Prattville, developed and controlled by Daniel Pratt is com
parable to the great industrial complex developed by William Gregg, the South f s most
influential promoter of industrialization, at Graniteville, South Carolina. Daniel
Pratt f s intention was to upgrade the status of poor rural whites and to overthrow the
prejudices against mill labor held by the agrarian South. Pratt built his factories
and village infused with the New England attitude towards work in order, as he stated,
"to give the laboring class an opportunity of not only making an independent living but
to train up workmen who could dignify to labor." Pratt modeled his mill village after
his home town of Temple, New Hampshire, always conscious to maintain a small village and
not an industrial city. It was easier, asserted Pratt, to maintain health and social
controls in a small village rather than a large city. By 1860 Pratt deemed the social
experiment of the industrial village of Prattville, for the most part, a success. Pratt*s
attitude towards the upgrading of poor whites and the social controls he implemented in
Prattville were forerunners of those held by Post-Civil War industrialists and could be
found within the industrial towns created during the manufacturing boom of the New South.
(see continuation sheet)
9. Major Bibliographical References
See Continuation Sheet.
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of nominated property approxt 140 acres
Quadrangle name Prattville
UTM References
Quadrangle scale Is24000
A jl 6 1
Zone LL 5|0|l
Easting
|5|5,0|1
|5
|5
5iO[0
I4i9|l
|0|0|
,6,0]
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,4,0|
|3,5|9,2|0,0,0| B l,6 |5|5,01
Northing Zone Easting
13,519,116,4,01 D |l,6| |5|5,0|0
|3,5|9,1|0|6,0| F|l,6| |5 |4 ,9 |7
|3,5|9,l|0|8,0| H|l,6| |5 |4 ,8 |9
I6
,5
1°
I8
1°
|°
1°
1°
|3 ,5 |9 ,1
NorthingI3 ,5 19 i1
|3 ,5 |9 ,1
P ,5 |9 ,1
I6
I2
1°
I2
i8
(i
|2
1°
1°
|°
£J
|0 |(see contin-
uation sheet
Verbal boundary description and justification
See attached scale map.
List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries
state NAcodecountycode
state code county code
11. Form Prepared By
name/title Michael Bailey and Robert Gamble
organization Alabama Historical Commission date 7-3-84
street & number 725 Monroe Street telephone 2Q526JX3184
city or town Montgomery state
12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification
The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:
__ national _JL_ state __ local
As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89- 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and cejtffftthat it has been evaluated
according to the criteria and procedures set forth by theJ^flonaf-ParK Service.,
State Historic Preservation Officer signature
title State Historic Preservation Officer date July 26, 1984
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY--NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 8____PAGE 1________________________
Architectural Significance: Criterion C
The focal point of the Daniel Pratt Historic District is the oldest continuously-operated
industrial complex in the state of Alabama, including buildings ranging in date from the
1840s to the early 1900s. In fact, of architecture expressing antebellum Alabama's
incipient manufacturing efforts, the earliest buildings of the Pratt complex—along with
those at nearby Tallassee—are virtually all that remain. Other major pre-1860 manufac-
turies such as the Bell Factory near Huntsville, the Cypress Mills at Florence, Scotts-
ville in Bibb County, and Autaugaville ten miles west of Prattville, have all disappeared.
Yet even among these, Prattville was in 1860 preeminent.
Complementing Prattville f s early industrial remains is a significant collection of mid-
nineteenth to early twentieth century domestic and commercial architecture. The Daniel
Pratt mansion itself, the key component in Prattville's ensemble of historic domestic
architecture, was razed in 1961. Yet a number of lesser mill-related houses survive,
representing the domiciles of both the mid-level artisan and managerial class as well as
those of the "operatives" or laborers who worked in the various Pratt enterprises. Later
dwellings, particularly those erected after 1900, along with an unusually intact
commercial district adjoining the mill area, reflect the town's expansion as a local
trade center between 1890 and 1930. Still, until recent times the architectural leitmotiv
of the community continued to spring from its economic underpinnings as Alabama's oldest
functioning industrial community. It is this factor which imparts to the architecture
of the Prattville historic district its primary social, historical and visual significance.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
Daniel Pratt Historic District
In 1833, Daniel Pratt, a New Hampshire-born carpenter, moved with his wife and
two slaves, from Clinton, Georgia, where he had operated a cotton gin factory in
partnership with Samuel Griswold, to a site near Elmore Station, Alabama. He
operated a small gin shop there for a short time until he found the site unsuitable
for his purposes. After several unsuccessful attempts at acquiring a suitable site,
Pratt purchased 1,000 acres of land and water privileges from Joseph May for $20,000
dollars. The site that was purchased by Pratt was four miles north of Washington
Landing on the Alabama River and thirteen miles west of Montgomery. Pratt was
attracted to the site by Autauga Creek's rapid falls which had great potential as an
uninterrupted source of waterpower for the operation of a mill.
At the time of the purchase of the land there was a small grist mill, a sawmill
and a small dwelling house located on the site of the falls. Pratt utilized lumber
from the saw mill to construct his first cotton gin factory in 1838. By the latter
part of 1839 and early 1840 Pratt had erected a blacksmith shop and six to eight
houses as residences for operatives who were employed at the mill. In 1844 the first
store in Prattville was opened by B. F. & Haywood Miles in the first floor of the
Methodist Church building that had been completed the same year.
Pratt recognized the effects that strong industrialization would have on
Alabama's economy. He was the equal of William Gregg of Graniteville, South
Carolina, in his efforts as a champion for the cause of industrialization in the
South as a way to halt the region's dependence on Northern manufactured goods. Pratt
advocated an industrial complex that would complement the cotton-based plantation
system—not one that would supplant it. He urged planters to invest in cotton mills
as a way to provide essential markets and capital and stop the immigration of
Alabamians to more fertile western slave states.
One of the major obstacles faced by Pratt in his industrialization effort was
the prejudice of southern whites, both planters and rural poor, towards manual labor.
Pratt's objective was to build a mill village, as he stated in 1845, "for the purpose
of dignifying labor in the South, and to give the laboring class an opportunity of
not only making an independent living but to train workmen who could give dignity to
labor." Pratt used his home town of Temple, New Hampshire, as a model for
Prattville, and infused some of the New England attitude towards work into it through
the use of religion and education. Pratt held the belief that through good pay and
good morals each of his operatives could achieve, "a neat substantial dwelling, the
front yard adorned with shrubbery and flowers, a good vegetable garden, a pleasant
wife and cheerful children." Pratt was an advocate of the small industrial village,
asserting that it was easier to maintain health and social controls within a small
village than in a large industrial city.
Pratt's business expanded as his cotton gins began to receive recognition
throughout the South. In 1846 the factory produced 500 gins, and an increased demand
for these superior quality gins led Pratt to open a sales outlet in New Orleans.
Also in 1846 Pratt began construction of a new frame mill building to house the
newly organized Prattville Manufacturing Company No. 1 and completed one of the first
dams built to provide power for manufacturing in Alabama. The mill started
operations in 1847, employing 160 men, women and children, making it Prattville's
largest single employer. Pratt preferred poor rural white families for his
employees. He furnished them housing at a small rental fee, plus an average monthly
wage of $8 dollars and provided shops for them to purchase goods.
During 1849 Ferdinand Smith came to Prattville from New Hampshire to supervise
the establishment of the Pratt Sash, Door and Blind Factory. This factory, which
produced mouldings and house finishings, was operated in a newly completed three
story brick building, the first of its type in the complex. This building, located
in the west side of Autuaga Creek, adjoined Pratt's original frame gin factory
building.
By 1849 the town contained two schools, which were pioneers within the State of
Alabama in the use of the Lancastrian pupil seating arrangement, two churches, one
Methodist and one Baptist, three stores, a resident physician and forty dwelling
houses for the operatives. By this time Pratt had also constructed his imposing
home, near the site of his industrial complex, and had brought in a New Orleans
artist, George Cook, to furnish his gallery with copies of old masters and portraits
from life of such notables as Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. DeBow's Industrial
Review of New Orleans, described Prattville as the southern version of Lowell,
Massachusetts and challenged the rest of the South to follow its example as an
industrial center.
As Pratt f s business interest grew there were problems encountered that were
inevitable results of such growth. One such problem was the inability of his
superintendents to manage his establishments properly. Pratt alleviated this source
of trouble by dismissing his two supervisors and employing Gardner Hale of New York
as his new superintendent. Under Kale's experienced guidance production increased
through proper training of the "piney woods" whites and the introduction, for the
first time, of black slaves into the labor force.
As the demand for the superior quality Pratt cotton gin and cotton textiles grew
so did the town of Prattville. By 1851 the population had risen in number to 800,
with construction of another church, a store, a blacksmith shop, with a carriage shop
and twenty more dwellings having taken place.
After the arrival of Gardner Hale the manufacturing complex at Prattville grew
at an incredible rate. During 1854 Pratt found that his existing gin shop was too
small to answer the growing demand for his gins. To meet this demand he began
construction of a new three story brick manufacturing building in which more gins
could be produced.
In a letter dated July 19, 1854 Pratt discussed his industrial community and its
future
"I am going on as usual with my business. I find my old gin shop too
small. It is getting a good deal works for wear. I find I should
have to stop to repair or build new, therefore, concluded to build
a new shop which I am now doing, expect to be able to move into it at
next year. I am building it on the West side of the creek. I am
putting it up on brick, 220 feet long, 50 feet wide with a wing 34 x
40 all three stories high. I am expecting to put in the best of
machinery and to have the best cotton gin factory in the world.
Several years since I put up a brick building where the old Grist
Mill was about 232 feet long, 29 feet wide, three stories high. I
use this for sash door and blind business, a machine shop for the
foundry and a carpenters shop. When my gin shop is up, I shall run
the machinery in both buildings by the same wheel. I put up a large
Breast Wheel between the two buildings going from one end to the gin
ship from the other to the sash & B shop. It is attended with a
heavy expense. I intend what I do hereafter to have it permanent,
something that will induce those who come after me to keep up the place.
I can turn out in this shop 1500 gins annually if necessary. I last
year finished up a brick building on the West side, probably the best
brick building in Alabama. It is 75 feet by 140. The lower story is
finished up into stores,the upper story has a church 75 x 60 neatly
finished,a Sunday School room 75 x 40 and six smaller rooms which are
used for various purposes. I am getting old (55 tomorrow), must quit
building. I think, however, that our village will continue to improve
slowly. We have 5 stores here, all I believe doing well. Have a
printing office—3 churches and 2 schools."
Pratt also continued to be conscious of the needs of the town's growing population,
He added another store to its growing commercial area and began publication of the
town's first newspaper, the Prattville Southern Statesman.
In 1857 an article which appeared in The Cotton Planter and the Soil of the
South described in great detail Pratt's industrial complex which employed, by that
year, 200 operatives.
"As you enter the door of the first floor you have a full view of a
line of shafting 250 feet long, on which, at suitable distances
apart, are over seventy drums for driving various machines used
in the manufacture of gins. This room is 250 feet by 50 feet,
fitted with machines adapted to the different kinds of work and
material employed in the construction of gins.
The second floor is used for breasting and finishing gins. It has a
large room partitioned off for the purpose of testing gins with
seed cotton. Fifty pounds are run through each gin and a note made
of the time required to gin it ... The third floor is all one
room—probably the largest in the state—250 by 50 feet. Here gins
are painted and varnished and put in order for boxing and shipping.
There is an elevator large enough to receive the gins, which raises
and lowers them from one floor to another by aid of machinery.
In the garret is a cistern, kept full of water, which is raised from
a spring underneath the shop by machinery. From this cistern each
room is supplied with pure cold water by means of pipes. The waste
water from the cistern is conveyed to the center of the square in
front of the shop, where it jets thirty feet, and falls into a large
circular reservoir.
Connected with the gin shop by a railway is a brick lumber house,
172 feet long by 40 feet wide ... An iron foundry is also connected
with the shop, which works up about a hundred tons of iron annually.
The gin shop turns at about $150,000 worth of gins annually.
Adjoining the gin shop is a brick building, three stories high and
250 feet long, which is used for a gristmill, a sash, door and blind
factory, a machine shop, a shop for making house mills, and a carriage
and wagon shop, all furnished with suitable machinery . . . The
machinery in both buildings is driven by one breast wheel of sixty-
horse power. There are fifty hands actively employed all the time
in the gin factory and foundry together, many of whom are slaves, that
seem to be well skilled in the performance of this work.
There is also quite an extensive and flourishing cotton factory here,
a large share of the stock owned by Mr. Pratt. It contains twenty-
eight hundred spindles, one hundred looms, and is worked by one
hundred and fifty hands, several of them slaves. It works up twelve
hundred bales of osnaburgs annually. The company contemplates at an
early period putting up a new and greatly enlarged building for
increasing their spindles and looms.
At a short distance below the gin factory—perhaps a half mile—Mr.
Pratt has fitted up a large two-story brick building, in which he
has already received and is putting up machinery of the latest im
provement for carding and spinning wool, to be manufactured into
kerseys, in another department of the cotton factory . . . Of Mr.
Pratt's gins, we can say to our readers in want of a first-rate
stand, unhesitantingly—and we say so without prejudicing any other
factory—that, with all his late improvements and the advantages
afforded by his large factory arrangements, he is able to furnish
the neatest most complete and best cotton gin stand in America."
In 1859 a new brick cotton mill building was constructed by David McCord at a cost of
$45,000 dollars to replace the existing frame mill.
By 1860, Alabama was the number one producer of cotton gin machinery of any
state in the Union. The leading contributor to this statistic was the Daniel Pratt
Gin Company, which by 1860 was the leading manufacturer of cotton gins below the
Mason-Dixon Line.
Also in 1860 Pratt, along with his agent Shadrack Mims, deemed the Prattville
social experiment, of upgrading the status of poor rural whites, for the most part a
success. Pratt described his operatives as, "industrious, intelligent and refined,"
and stated that, "the town is universally free of vices of loafing and dissipation."
Although the social experiment at Prattville may have been successful in its
goals of attracting and upgrading poor whites, the manufacturing aspect of the
complex, although very good, may not have been at the level which Pratt or his
superintendent, Gardner Hale, believe it should have achieved. One basic reason for
this unsatisfactory production level may have been that the basically untrained rural
white labor did not produce as well as expected. In order to bolster the production
of the complex, Pratt retreated from one of his original intents, and purchased black
slaves for use as laborers in the mills and gin shop.
In late 1860 and early 1861, as Alabama advanced towards secession, Pratt found
himself a reluctant participant in the movement. He had long been an advocate of
Southern independence from Northern manufacturers, but believed that total industrial
independence had to be obtained, within the south before any move toward secession
could be attempted. In 1860 Pratt held the opinion that the southern states had not
progressed far enough in their industrialization to stand unaided against the North.
However, after Alabama's secession from the Union, he supported the Confederacy by
supplying a complete cavalry company, "the Prattville Dragoons", producing material
for soldiers'uniforms and, on a personal level, by serving in the Alabama legislature
from 1861-1865.
The years immediately following the war were ones of hardship for Prattville and
its inhabitants. Pratt's manufacturing interests lost an estimated 2 million dollars
due to the loss of markets for products and the state of disrepair of the complex
caused by years of continous operation. Faced with the possibility of closing the
complex completely, during the installation of new machinery, Pratt instead chose to
operate at a limited capacity as a way of keeping his operatives employed.
In 1868 Autauga County governmental officials made the decision to relocate the
county courthouse from Kingston, a short distance away, to Prattville which had
become the county's major population center. Upon Daniel Pratt's death in 1873, his
nephew,Merrill Pratt, became the successor to the industrial operation. Merrill
continued his uncle's commitment to upgrade both the Pratt industrial complex and
also the town of Prattville. His efforts suffered a setback on March 30, 1886 when
the Pratt Manufacturing Company Cotton Mill building was destroyed by a violent
flood. The building lay in ruins in May 1887 when it was purchased by the Pratt
Cotton Mill and Banking Company. In 1888 the Company replaced the ruins with a new
three story brick cotton mill building.
During 1896 the Prattville Cotton Mill and Banking Company expanded its
operation by constructing another three story brick mill building which adjoined the
1888 building. This mill contained more modern machinery that doubled production
over that of the old mill. The increase in production forced the company to
construct new housing which was needed to handle the larger number of operatives
employed in the mills.
Also by 1896 Prattville for the first time in its history, was connected to
other areas of the state by railroad service. This service alleviated the need for
sending finished products to Montgomery by mule train for shipment and allowed
materials used in the manufacturing process to be shipped directly to Prattville.
Pratt's Gin Company was, by 1898, advertising as the manufacturer of the finest
cotton gins in the world and, because of increased demand, had started construction
of a new gin shop that would double its production output. The Pratt Sash, Door and
Blind Factory, by this time, owned by George L. and D. P. Smith produced moulding and
house finishings, and had grown to become the largest and most widely used operation
of that type in the state. Because of the increase in production of the three major
components of the Pratt complex, the population of the town had grown to an estimated
2,300 people and contained eighteen general merchandise stores, three drug stores,
plus numerous other shops ranging from a bakery to barber shops.
In 1899 the Daniel Pratt Gin Company merged with five of the larger cotton gin
manufacturing firms in the country to form Continental Gin Incorporated. This merger
was an effort to produce a better quality gin at less expensive cost through the
efforts of the combined managerial and research teams. After this merger Prattville
continued to be the center for the manufacture of superior quality gins as
improvements in gin manufacturing technology were introduced into the factory.
During the 1920's it became evident to Prattville school officials that the old
Prattville Academy building, constructed in 1859, had become too small to operate
efficiently as an elementary school. The old Academy building was torn down and a
new brick elementary school building was constructed on the site during 1927 and
1928.
In 1938 a major flood of Autauga Creek caused serious damage within the city.
Both Continental Gin and Gurney Manufacturing Company threatened to move their
factories from Prattville unless action was taken to control the continual flooding.
There was much concern in Prattville over these threatened moves because,
approximately 87 percent of the city's population was employed by the two companies.
In order to halt any such move Congress appropriated one-half million dollars for a
flood control project. This project consisted of massive dikes that were constructed
on both sides of the Creek as it runs through the town and may be seen today. It is
reported that several of the earlier houses built during the development of the
village were demolished during this flood-control project.
Sections of Daniel Pratt's industrial complex are still in use today. Bush Hog
/ Continental Gin,Incorporated still utilizes the 1855 gin factory building, the old
Sash, Door and Blind Factory building and the 1898 shop building in the manufacture
of, "the largest, most modern cotton gins in the world." Gurney Manufacturing
Company, located across Autauga Creek from Bush Hog / Continental Gin, continues to use the 1888 mill building and the 1896 cotton mill building in the production of textiles.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM
(CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 9 PAGE 1 _____________
1. Eaton, Clement, A History of the Old South; The Emergence of a Reluctant Nation,
MacMillan Publishing Co., 1975
2. Griffin, Richard W. "Cotton Manufacture in Alabama to 1865", Alabama Historical
Quarterly, Vol. 18, 1956, Alabama Department of Archives and History
3. Hunt, William Larry, Prattville: From Nothing to Now, Privately Published, 1972
4. Miller, Randall M. "Daniel Pratt*s Industrial Urbanism: The Cotton Mill Town in
Antebellum, Alabama" Alabama Historical Quarterly, Volume 34, No. 1, Spring 1972,
Alabama Department of Archives and History.
5. Mims, Shadrack, History of Autauga County (unpublished manuscript) Shadrack Mims
Papers, Alabama Department of Archives and History
6. Newby, Clare, A Brief History of the First United Methodist Church of Prattville,
Prattville (Privately Published), 1979
7. Owens, Thomas, History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, S. J. Clarke
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1921.
8. Tarrant, Susan Francis, The Honorable Daniel Pratt, Whitlet and Shepperson, Richmond,
1904
9. Historic Prattville and Autauga County, Published, Bank of Prattville, 1975
10. Historical Information about Daniel Pratt and Daniel Pratt Gin Company and Con
tinental Gin Company. Bush Hog/Continental Gin, 1978
11. Letter from Daniel Pratt to the Editor of the Commercial Review, June 30, 1846
DeBow's Review, Vol. II, 1846, New Orleans
12. "Agriculture and Manufacturers South and West, No. 2 - Prattville, Alabama"
DeBow's Review, Vol IV, 1847
13. Letter from Daniel Pratt, "To the People of Alabama" Printed in Independent Monitor
Tuscaloosa, AL June 15, 1847. Typed copy, Prattville File, Alabama Department of Archives and History
14. "Manufacturing Towns of the South" DeBow's Review, Vol. 11, 1851
15. "A Day with Daniel Pratt, at Prattville" American Cotton Planter and the Soil of
the South, Vol. 1, 1857
16. "Industrial Edition" Prattville Progress, Nov. 11, 1898
17. Informal interviews, Rudolph Raines, Willy Reddin, Bush Hog/Continental Gin, and James Crosby, Gurney Manufacturing Company, May 3, 1984.
FHR-8-300A
(11/78)
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM
CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 10 PAGE
I. 16 / 548960 / 3591340
J. 16 / 549170 / 8591840
K. 16 / 549290 / 8592000
L. 16 / 550050 / 3592040
Prattville Historic District: Inclusive street nimbers
1) .-laple St.
115, 122, 124, 138, 148
2) First St.
123,131,133,135,137,143,148,149,150,163
3) Main St.
101,102,104,113,119,124,125,129,131,132-134,133-135,138-142,139-1-*-!, 143,144,146,
147-149,150-152,151-153,154,155,156,159,160,161,163-165,164-166,167,172,173-1G7,176
4) East .lain St
129,139,141,169
5) East Third St.
119,129,136,152,170,130
6) Fourth St.
100,101,109,117,133,145,157,173,210
7) West Fourth St.
120,124,130
3) Fifth St.
101,109,110,113,114,115,116,120,121,125,126,132,133,133,139,141,117,150,152,153,153, 161,162-163,164,171,135
9) West Fifth St. 174
*10) East Sixth St.
199
11) First Avenue
135,141
12) Third Ave.
334
13) North Court St.
117,131,134,133,143
14) Court St.
203,209,217,221,231,233,245,253,
15) South Court St.
101,103,109,117,135,137,139,145,147,201,207,213,215,225,235
16) Chestnut St.
317,335,340,341,342
17) South Chestnut St.
120,130,143,206,211,239
(.over)
Frattville Inclusive Street numbers continued
IS) Washington St.
105,113,123,127,129,137,138,205,209,213,218,221,227,237,249,266,311,319,326,
327,345,346,403
19) Hunt's Alle/
127,131,135,139,143,130,190
* 20) Wetuinpka St.216,217,225,235,245,246,257,260,301,306 (Need St.* of Primary School)
* 21) Northington Eoad
132,140,141,159,162,167
A?
*-Mditions from extension of district boundaries.