Dothan History, Alabama

Introduction to Dothan, Alabama

Dothan has great historical monuments and sights. Like Dothan, Columbus Sights and Panama City Nightlife are high on the list of priorities for tourists.

Dothan, Alabama – History: Poplar Head

In the 1700s and 1800s, wagons from the surrounding states and cities, like Charleston, Savannah and Jacksonville came through this area as pioneers searched for a new place to build homes. These pioneers would often stop at a spring in the forests known as Poplar Head, and it was common to camp here for a while to rest. It was thought that the soil on which only the pine forest grew would not be suitable for farming so they never considered staying in this area.

This place, Poplar Head, was actually where the ancient Indian trails met, and was a meeting place for Indians from various tribes as well as a camping ground. There was even a fort near here in the 1830s to protect travelers from the Indians in the region, but after the Indian Wars ended in Alabama in 1840 the fort was abandoned.

Dothan, Alabama – History: Settling Dothan

Like the other historical cities of United States, the history of Dothan Alabama is very popular throughout the United States. By the year 1885, the small camping ground had turned into a village and the new settlers here realized that to sustain the growth they had to set up a government for the city. So in November of 1885 they voted and incorporated the city and named it Dothan because a Poplar Head named post office already existed in Alabama.

Dothan, Alabama – History: Growth

In 1892, Hyman Blumberg settled in Dothan and started a retail clothing business. It was in the history of Dothan, Alabama that someone started a clothing business in this city. He, along with his family, went on to build the largest department store in southeast Alabama. It was also the first store in the city to have a moving escalator installed, which became something of a tourist sight for people from all around the region. Blumberg’s and Sons was the first department store to carry full lines and had people coming in to shop from Georgia and Florida. The store may have been shut down in 1975, but the Blumberg family remains prominent in the community to this day.

In the year 1902, a resident of Dothan, W.M. Cooper released his version of B.F. White’s famous tune book, the Sacred Harp. Dothan was also a city that participated in the 1939 New York World’s Fair.