Rawlingsville, Alabama

Fort Payne is a city in and county seat of DeKalb County, in northeastern Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 14,877. European-American settlers gradually developed the settlement around the former fort. It grew rapidly in the late 19th century based on industrial resources and manufacturing increasing in the early 20th centuries. At the beginning of the 21st century, it still had 7000 workers in 100 mills producing varieties of socks, nearly half the world production.

The W. B. Davis Hosiery Mill (also known as the Alabama Builders' Hardware Manufacturing Company Complex) is a historic industrial complex in Fort Payne, Alabama. It opened in 1884 in the midst of Fort Payne's economic boom, manufacturing building hardware and supplies. The main building, which features Colonial Revival details, is three stories tall, with 12-over-12 sash windows on each floor. An 85-foot (26-meter) chimney has a flared top and corbeled brick course, imitating a doric order column. By 1890, hopes that large quantities of iron ore and other minerals would be discovered in the Fort Payne district proved to be ill-founded. The ABHMC and seven of Fort Payne's other large manufacturers merged in an effort to remain in business, but they were unable to avoid bankruptcy.The mill building was purchased in 1909 by hosiery executive W. B. Davis, and converted it into a factory providing ribbing, knitting, and looping. The operation was soon expanded to include dyeing, shaping, and packaging, as it became the largest employer in Fort Payne and gave the town its nickname of the "Sock Capital of the World". The factory underwent a large expansion beginning in 1927, including a large wing off of the main building, a knitting building, an expanded boiler room, other storage buildings, and an annex across the street. In 1948 the company was sold, and in 1974 a new building was constructed adjacent with production moved out of the original building.The complex was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1976 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The Annex was added to the National Register listing in 1992.

The Fort Payne Depot Museum (formerly the Alabama Great Southern Railroad Passenger Depot) is a historic building in Fort Payne, Alabama. The depot was built by the Alabama Great Southern Railroad in 1891, at the height of Fort Payne's mining-driven boom. Passenger service ended in 1970, but the depot continued to service freight until 1983. It was converted into a museum in 1986, which includes exhibits with 19th century and Native American artifacts, a collection of dioramas of fantasy scenes and historical events, and a former Norfolk Southern caboose. The depot was designed in Richardsonian Romanesque style by architect Charles C. Taylor. It is clad in grey sandstone with pink granite trim. The hipped roof has several gables protruding from it, as well as a circular tower on one corner. The depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

The Fort Payne Opera House, located at 510 Gault Avenue North in Fort Payne, DeKalb County in the U.S. state of Alabama built during the industrial boom in 1889. The Fort Payne Opera House is the only one in the State of Alabama still in use. The establishment has been used as a movie theater, live theater and a public forum. The Opera House still hosts live theatrical events and is on the National Register of Historic Places and the National Register of 19th Century Theaters in America. Completely restored, the Opera House is a cultural center of the community.

The Fort Payne Boom Town Historic District is a historic district in Fort Payne, Alabama. The district encompasses five properties built around 1889, when Fort Payne was undergoing huge growth owing to the area's mineral deposits. Included are the Alabama Great Southern Depot; the Fort Payne Opera House; the Sawyer Building, a two-story Victorian commercial building; City Park, which sat across from the (now-demolished) county courthouse; and Purdy Furniture, which built as the headquarters of the Fort Payne Coal and Iron Company. Another Victorian commercial building has since been demolished. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The Confederate Monument is a Confederate memorial in Fort Payne, Alabama, in the United States. The monument was installed in 1913, "erected through the efforts of the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, with the assistance of other interested citizens. The monument was originally located in the center of town and was moved to its present location at a later time. .

The Fort Payne Residential Historic District is a historic district in Fort Payne, Alabama. The district represents both of Fort Payne's major periods of growth: the 1880s and 1890s, fueled by the area's mineral deposits; and the 1910s through the 1930s, bolstered by the development of the hosiery industry. The area was predominantly middle class, meaning only a few Queen Anne homes were built; most houses from the early period were built in more restrained Vernacular Victorian styles. Later construction is dominated by American Foursquares and Craftsman Bungalows. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Fort Payne Main Street Historic District is a historic district in Fort Payne, Alabama. Centered on the intersection of Gault Avenue and 1st Street, the district contains commercial and public buildings that date from Fort Payne's second period of growth from the 1920s to World War II. Buildings from the first wave of development in the 1880s and 1890s are centered in the Fort Payne Boom Town Historic District to the northeast. Most of the commercial buildings are in a simple, utilitarian brick style. The later civic buildings exhibit more decorated styles, including the Classical Revival Post Office (built 1936), and the Art Moderne City Hall (1941) and DeKalb County Activities Building (1941). The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Cherokee Plantation is a historic house in Fort Payne, Alabama. The house was built in 1790 as a two-story log cabin by Andrew Ross, a judge on the Cherokee Supreme Court and brother of Principal Chief John Ross. In 1834 a second log cabin was built connected to the rear of the original cabin, and a third was built to the northeast, separated by a breezeway. Ross, being one-eighth Cherokee, was forced to leave his home in 1838 under the provisions of the Treaty of New Echota, of which Ross was a signatory; a portion of the Cherokee Trail of Tears passes in front of the house.The house passed to William W. McFarlane, who enclosed and expanded it further in 1845, giving the house its present Greek Revival appearance. The Kershaw family made further modifications and renovations in the 1930s and 1960s. Current owners, the Brewer family, have continued the renovations. The house was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1976 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Willstown (sometimes Wattstown, or Titsohili, as it sounded in Cherokee) was an important Cherokee town of the late 18th and early 19th century, located in the southwesternmost part of the Cherokee Nation, in what is now DeKalb County, Alabama. It was near Lookout or Little Wills Creek. Willstown was one of the trading centers along the Native American trading path in the region. The town site overlapped the boundaries of present-day DeKalb and Etowah counties in Alabama. It was largely abandoned after the Cherokee were forcibly removed from the region by United States forces in the 1830s. The city of Ft. Payne, Alabama developed nearby around the fort of the same name, built to intern the Cherokee before their removal.

Manitou Cave is a cave in Alabama, near the town of Fort Payne, in the side of Lookout Mountain. In the early 1800s, the Fort Payne area was a Cherokee settlement named Willstown. This was the home of Sequoyah during his time of creating the Cherokee syllabary. Later, Sequoyah's son wrote on the walls of Manitou Cave using this syllabary, documenting ceremonial events and other culturally significant information and history. In the 1830s, Cherokee people were forcibly relocated from this area along the Trail of Tears, leaving the cave empty for some time. During the Civil War, the cave was a source of saltpeter for the Confederate Army. The mineral was mined by laborers to provide the essential ingredient for black powder. The cave was also designated fallout shelter during the Cold War.In 1888, Manitou Cave was opened by the Fort Payne Coal and Iron Company and became a tourist destination. Management of Manitou Cave later shifted to the Walter B. Raymond Sr. family, who operated it through the mid-1970s. It closed as a tourist attraction in 1979. For many years Manitou Cave was neglected and closed to the public. In 2015, Manitou Cave was purchased and a 501(c)3 non-profit, Manitou Cave of Alabama, was founded by Annette Reynolds to protect and conserve the cave and surrounding property. Repairs, renovations, and conservation efforts followed, including the installation of an eco-friendly cave gate for safety and security. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians helped to secure the gate's purchase. During these conservation and revitalization efforts, the Manitou Cave Snail, called the Antrobis brewerii, was confirmed to still exist in the cave, making Manitou Cave the only place it is known to exist in the world.In 2021, Manitou Cave received certification as a Trail of Tears National Historic Trail Interpretive Center from The National Park Service National Historic Trail Office, Sante Fe, NM.As of 2022, Manitou Cave of AL, Inc. stewards the cave with a mission is "to respect and protect this historic, sacred site through conservation and education so that the cave, land, and water are preserved for visitors and wildlife as a place of peace." To preserve the cave as a living record of history and to protect the fragile ecosystem, public access is limited to annual community tours a couple times a year and educational research.