From architecture to agriculture, Daniel Pratt’s global influence on farming rose out of the heart of central Alabama. 

Originally from Temple, New Hampshire, Pratt was born in 1799 on a family farm. He became an architect apprentice at 16 before moving to Georgia four years later to build homes. He then focused on cotton ginning.

Pratt’s entrepreneurial spirit moved him and wife Ester westward to central Alabama, where he founded the Daniel Pratt Gin Co. in 1833. Five years later, Pratt purchased more than 1,800 acres on Autauga Creek, where he built a factory and founded what is now Prattville.

By the 1850s, the factory complex supplied cotton gins all over the world. Pratt’s gins were at work in fields from Europe to South America, with the factory annually producing at least 1,500 gins by 1860. 

While Pratt hired local farmers to work in the plant, his influence on Alabama’s economy extended past agriculture. Pratt used locally produced iron in cotton gin manufacturing while promoting the state’s untapped mineral wealth, including coal. 

Pratt also entered state politics, serving in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1861 to 1865. Following the Civil War, Pratt’s focus expanded to iron and coal production and the railroad industry — all while maintaining his gin factory.

Pratt passed away in 1873, but his legacy endures in the town that bears his name. Gin production continued in Prattville into the 2010s, preserving the site’s industrial heritage for generations. 

Today, the historic mill has entered a new chapter. It was thoughtfully renovated into apartments overlooking the scenic Autauga Creek. 

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a four-part series highlighting agriculture’s role in U.S. history as America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Visit America250AL.org to learn more about the semiquincentennial.