Click image to enlarge. In 1833 New Englander Daniel Pratt set up a gin shop on the banks of Autauga Creek, and from this small beginning grew one of the South’s first major industrial endeavors. Two of the operation’s early buildings—the 1849 Sash Door and Blind Factory and the 1854 Gin Factory with its 1896 addition—are among Alabama’s nineteenth-century treasures. Unfortunately, these buildings are not suitable for modern methods of gin making, and Continental Eagle Corporation, the successor to Pratt’s company, currently uses them for storage. The company is sympathetic but does not have the funds to invest in the buildings. Local preservationists are raising money to stabilize them. Without these funds and volunteers, the structures may deteriorate beyond repair. UPDATE: The property was auctioned for $1.7 million in 2014.
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