Side A
In the late 1700s and 1800s, horse and ox-drawn covered wagons from Charleston, Savannah, and Jacksonville traveled across the South as pioneer families searched for a place to build new homes and to start a new life. Those pioneers, who passed through the vast pine forests in the southeast corner of the territory that was later to become the state of Alabama, would often stop at a spring know as Poplar Head. Poplar Spring, named for the poplar trees that encircled the glade where the cool water, or "head" (as springs were often called) welled from the earth. It was where ancient Indian trails met, crossed, and then continued on. The glade where the spring was located was often used by Indians from the various tribes of the Creek Confederacy as a meeting place and as a campground. By 1885, the hamlet had grown into a village.

Side B
The new settlers realized that if the community's growth was to be sustained, they would need a governing body and local law enforcement. On November 10, 1885, the people of Poplar Head voted to incorporate and took Dothan as the new town's name since there was already was a Poplar Head, Alabama. The name come from Genesis 37:17 "?.for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan." "A writer can put on paper the history of the town, but the history belongs to those who not only lived through the years documented, but who formed and molded out town into the city we know as Dothan." - "Dothan, A Pictorial History," 1984, by Wendell H. Stepp and daughter Pamela Ann Steep.

Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.

Show me all markers in:  Dothan, AL  |  Houston County  |  36301  |  Alabama  |  United States of America

Dothan Opera House
Johnny Mack Brown
Main Street Commercial Historic District
Poplar Head Spring
Marvin Holman
The Naming of Dothan
Dothan Municipal Light and Water Plant
1905 Houston County Courthouse Bell
Federal Building
Houston County

• GPX
• KML
• LOC

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.