The area that is now Dothan was originally inhabited by members of the Alabama and Creek Native American tribes. Within the vast forests of pine that covered this region, a glade surrounded by poplar trees sheltered a large spring at the crossroads of two trails, where local Indians used to meet and camp. White settlers moving through the area duirng the late 1700s and early 1800s named the spring "Poplar Head", but most felt that the sandy soil common to this region would be unsuitable for farming, so they moved on. A rude stockade was constructed on the Barber Plantation, where settlers could take refuge whenever they felt threatened. This fort disappeared by the 1840s, with the end of the Indian Wars in Alabama and the removal of the Native Americans further west.^[3]

The first permanent white settlers consisted of nine families who moved into the area during the early 1830s to harvest the abundant timber. Their settlement, named "Poplar Head" after the spring, failed to thrive and was all but abandoned by the time of the Civil War. After the war, the establishment of a local Pony Express route coupled with other developments during the Reconstuction era to finally allow the town to bloom. On November 11, 1885, the locals voted to incorporate, naming their new city "Dothan" after discovering that "Poplar Head" was already registered with the U.S. post office for a town in northern Alabama.^[4]

 The Dothan riot

In 1889, Dothan was the scene of a deadly altercation precipiated as the result of an unpopular tax levied on all wagons operating within city limits. Local farmers opposed this levy and organized themselves as the "Farmers' Alliance"; when a member of this group refused to pay and was arrested by city marshal J.L. Domingus, he resisted and had to be forcibly carried to jail. His trial four days later erupted into a violent free-for-all, when a member of the defendant's family overheard the lawman verbally deriding his brother while walking along a city street. The marshal began to beat the family member, George Stringer, then shot at him with a pistol. Stringer returned fire, as others converged on the scene from all directions and quickly began fighting. Pistols, knives and clubs were used in the fray, which lasted only a few minutes but left two men dead and five seriously wounded. Domingus was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to ten years, but his conviction was later overturned by the Alabama Supreme Court. The tax that first started the dispute remains in effect today.^[5]

 Expansion and growth

In 1893, Dothan secured a stop on the first railroad to be built in this region. This development brought new prosperity and further growth, as local farmers now had a means of marketing their produce. The pine forests were harvested for turpentine and wood, which was transformed into ship masts, lumber and other wood products until by 1900, Dothan had become the greatest inland naval stores market in the world.^[6]

As the pines were cut and land subsequently cleared, cotton became a staple of the local economy, until being devastated by the Boll weevil in the early 1900s. Farmers turned to peanut production, experiencing remarkable success and bringing financial gain to the city, which became a hub for the production and transport of peanuts and peanut-related products. Today, one-quarter of the U.S. peanut crop is harvested within 75 miles of Dothan,^[7] and the city referrs to itself as "the Peanut Capital of the World". A two-week fall festival known as the National Peanut Festival celebrates this heritage. The city also sought out industry, with textile and agricultural concerns being joined by manufacturing plants for the Sony, Michelin and General Electric corporations later in the century. In 1939, Dothan took part in the New York World's Fair, the largest world's fair of all time.

The first full-line department store in southeast Alabama was established in Dothan by Hyman Blumberg. Blumberg settled in Dothan in 1892 with his wife Esther, and started a retail apparel business which remained in his family until closing in 1975. Blumberg's grew into the largest department store in this part of the state, and became the first store in Dothan to install a moving escalator; people would come from many miles away just to ride this new innovation. Even after the store itself closed, the Blumbergs remain a prominent family in the city.

 Recent events

Originally part of Henry County, Dothan became the county seat of the newly-formed Houston County on May 9, 1903. The city continued to flourish and grow throughout the twentieth century, with an airport being constructed in 1965 and the Wallace Community College in 1969. Troy University in Dothan^[8] was established in 1961 and currently occupies a landscaped campus northwest of the city. The Southern Company construced the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Generating Station near the city between 1970-81; this 1,776 megawatt facility currently generates approximately 13,000 GW-h per year.^[9] More recent decades have seen factories constructed in the city by Sony and Michelin Corporations, together with the emergence of a local arts and music scene complete with an art museum, several theaters, symphony orchestra, dance troupe and other cultural amenities.

In 2008, Alabama developer Ronnie Gilley and his business partner Kix Brooks of Country superstar duo Brooks & Dunn announced plans to construct a $300 million entertainment venue just south of Dothan.^[10] This development, to be named "Country Crossing", is ultimately intended to feature restaurants, a dinner theater, camping facilities, concert facilities, fairgrounds and a charity bingo hall.^[11] Several leading Country Music celebrities have signed onto the project, including George Jones, Tracy Lawrence, John Anderson, Lorrie Morgan and Darryl Worley.^[12] While approved by the County Commission and enthusiastically embraced by much of the community, Gilley's development has encountered stiff opposition from local religious and anti-gambling groups who are concerned that the planned bingo hall is illegal under state law, and would bring increased crime and gambling addiction to the area.^[13] Gilley had previously threatened to pull his project if bingo was ruled illegal,^[14] but ground-breaking began on March 2, 2009.^[15] Country Crossing is expected to generate over 1,200 jobs during its first year alone.^[16]