pratt cotton gin mill

We decided to visit the historic downtown area for the Mardi Gras parade today. We enjoyed walking the Riverside area and looking at the old cotton gin. It's a beautiful and peaceful place to visit.

nice "riverwalk" that leads to the old mill. Very historic. Quaint shops but the highlight will be a meal at Uncle Micks. not to be missed. Great food, friendly service. We make it a point to stop in Prattville on trips to Florida.

We were looking for something to do one Saturday and had heard and read about the parks in Prattville and decided to take a nice ride to see a few of the sites there. There is a little park across from the Cotton Gin Mill and Dam - Heritage Park - which gives you a good view of them and a nice place to even sit and enjoy as long as you want -- there is also one of the artisan wells there that provides a little drinking fountain and also a decorative fountain to enjoy there as well. This is right at one end of the old town's main road - there is a few pull over parking places of the road and if you park there you can walk up a little hill and have an unrestricted view of the falls and the mill and other structures. When arrive at the park you are looking directly at the water falls - there are two wide ones that were used by the mill I am sure -- the building is abandoned but it does not looked vandalized - it stands tall and proud of the work that was done there and also a bit of history and memory of all those who worked there and the important part it played in the community - there is a tall wrought iron fence at the park but it doesn't obstruct the view and the sound of the rushing water is very soothing from the fountains and mostly from the falls. If you are there for very long on a warm day you might see some one fishing or just playing in the water come stroll up the creek from some where down stream. There are few of the stores up the street that were opened and I am sure fun to visit. Unfortunately across the street from the park there was once a restaurant on the first floor and a Daniel Pratt Museum with a bank vault it advertised and also held antiques and was known for .99 cones - so the said of the wall said but it is closed. But if you are in Prattville or traveling thru and would like a nice relaxing stop and a bit of history this would be worth looking for.

Prattville, Alabama’s cotton gin mill along Autauga Creek is a ghost of America’s industrial past. There is no museum here, no visitor’s center, no tours, in fact no entry to the sprawling brick buildings beside the double waterfall dams on the creek in this small town. But the site is well worth a visit because you will marvel in silent admiration at the economic force and the labor it took to build and run these mills, which were world famous at one time. Now they sit in silent decay with broken windows and mouldy interiors as locals make successive tries to interest someone into restoring the buildings for residential or commercial use. The cotton gin factory is also the site of ghost stories, the most fascinating of which is the story of Willie Youngblood’s mother, who is said to haunt the buildings and the creek in search of her dead son. You can read the story at this website: http://blog.al.com/strange-alabama/2012/03/the_ghost_of_willie_youngblood.htmlThe complex was started in the 1830s by Daniel Pratt (formerly of New Hampshire), who is known as Alabama’s first industrialist. He also surveyed the surrounding land and laid out a planned community - the first in Alabama - with separate sections for businesses, churches, schools and homes for his employees. But before coming to Autauga Creek, Pratt had gained respect and fame for building beautiful homes for Georgia cotton planters. His spiral and elliptical staircases, broad halls and large white columns reinforced his reputation as one of the most sought after carpenter-architects in the South. Within ten years Pratt had turned wooded, marshy land into a village of 800. Profits form his Cotton Gin Factory (the largest in the world, filling orders from the British Empire, Russia, Europe and South America) helped Pratt establish other business which dealt in a sash, door and blind factory, machine and blacksmith shops, wagon builders, flour and woolen mills, and a tin manufactory. By 1860 Prattville had grown to 1500 people and had a library, two schools, four churches and was on its way to becoming the county seat with all necessary government buildings. Pratt is regarded now as the man who preached the importance of industry in the South. While in Prattville, take time to wander along the creek or picnic on this village’s dedicated walkway. The streets are lined with many homes-turned-businesses with diverse architectural decorations that make this village charming. There is a museum, arts center and two locally famous eateries dealing in Cajun food and barbecue. You can find more history at the Autuaga Heritage Center.