Continental Gin Company, Prattville, Autauga County, AL

Significance: The site was acquired by Daniel Pratt in 1838, and he soon established grist and lumber and shingle mills there. By 1844, he had opened a cotton gin plant, the products of which were in great demand before the Civil War, and which became the largest cotton gin producer in the world. The Daniel Pratt Cotton Gin Company merged with other manufacturers in 1899 to form the Continental Gin Company which, in 1966, was still operational in Prattville. Pratt was also instrumental in the development of Alabama's iron and coal industries reconstructing the Red Mountain Iron and Coal Company after the Civil War. / Currently Eagle Corporation, currently the largest producer of cotton ginning equipment in the world, is the oldest continuously-operated industrial complex in the state of Alabama, dating to the founding of the Daniel Pratt Gin Company in 1833. Prattville held a diverse antebellum manufacturing establishment, of which the gin manufactory was the mainstay. The earliest Continental Eagle buildings, which date from the mid-19th century, are virtually the only architectural remnants of antebellum Alabama's nascent industrial efforts.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N321
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-67
Survey number: HAER AL-5
Building/structure dates: 1852 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1854 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1898 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1911-1912 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1959 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1962 Subsequent Work