Welcome

The Mill at Prattville

A Landmark You Can Call Home!

Located atop Prattville's most famous vantage point is the area's newest offering in modern living -- The Mill. With sweeping views of the city's historic downtown, Autauga Creek, and the picturesque millpond dam, this revitalized historic landmark is the city's first contemporary loft apartment lifestyle.

The 127 units of modern, urban living include approximately 60 unique floor plans consisting of 1-Bedroom, 2-Bedroom, and 3-Bedroom apartments. These are housed within the former Daniel Pratt cotton gin complex (1848), consisting of five historic masonry structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the original building architectural components have been incorporated into the loft designs including exposed brick walls, wooden support beams, and oversized windows that maximize the one-of-a-kind views and natural light.

Modern amenities integrate seamlessly into the historic setting and include a fitness center, clubhouse, and beautifully landscaped & manicured green spaces/pavilions.

Convenient to Maxwell AFB and downtown Montgomery, The Mill offers a unique urban lifestyle typically reserved for major metropolitan areas -- but now available in charming downtown Prattville. Be a part of this unique opportunity!

Amenities

Your Lifestyle,
Reimagined

Historic Building
Fitness Center
Clubhouse
Picnic Area
Covered Parking

Refrigerator
Dishwasher
Microwave
W/D Hookup
High Ceilings

The District

Prattville's Past Meets Present

When Daniel Pratt chose what is now Prattville as the site of his business ventures, he designed areas that would be devoted to manufacturing, retail businesses, churches, schools, and residences. Since 1984, this "planned community" has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town of Prattville is recognized as the earliest industrial village in Alabama and pretty much the entire South. In the 1850s De Bows Review, a business journal, recognized Prattville as one of the most industrialized towns in the U.S. Setting an example for his adopted state, Pratt initiated and built many industries needed in a developing region. Hoping to provide employment and dignify labor for the pioneering settlers, he quickly realized southerners had never seen large industries much less worked in them. Pratt recruited and partnered with skilled managers from New England states to come to Prattville. The early Yankee citizens not only trained southern workers to be employed in the factories, but they also brought with them their culture and traditions, henceforth Prattvilles nickname, THE NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE OF THE SOUTH. The design of Daniel Pratts's new town mimicked industrial towns in his native New Hampshire, placing industries heart & center of the town. Other southern towns were encouraged to follow Prattville's example. In 1847, the president of the University of Alabama, Dr. Basil Manley, awarded Pratt with the honorary degree of Master in the Mechanic and Useful Arts, writing:

"Without having devoted your life to literary pursuits, you have attained, in an eminent degree, that which is the end of all letters and all study -- the art of making men around you wiser, better, and happier."

Construction Has Begun!

The Mill at Prattville is currently in the construction phase, but be sure to check back here for progress updates and additional info as it comes! We are extremely excited about this project and can't wait for you to see the final result.

Questions? Comments?

We'd love to talk with you!

The best way to get in touch with us is via the Contact Us submission form.

Envolve appreciates all our valued partners on this project:

John Chambless, Chambless King
Alex Whaley, Whaley Construction
Historic Prattville Redevelopment Authority
City of Prattville
ServisFirst Bank
River Bank & Trust

The History

Learn more about this historical site!

The original Daniel Pratt Gin Company/ Continental Gin Company buildings are nationally recognized and regarded as some of the most historically significant industrial buildings in the country, not only because of their past, but also for the impact Daniel Pratt had on bringing industry to the South. It is thought that Daniel Pratt introduced the Industrial Revolution to the South.

Daniel Pratt came to Alabama in 1833 to build and sell cotton gins. In reality, he became one of the most influential persons in southern history, changing the economic landscape from a purely agriculture economy to an industrial one. This man was ahead of his time in his vision for the South to be self-reliant and financially independent. Because of his multiple industries in Prattville, in the 1850s Prattville was noted as the most industrialized town of its size by the Debows Review, a national business journal, and that was comparing it to the industrial northeast!

Pratt is also known for being the lead developer of the coal and iron industries in the Birmingham area. His son-in-law, Henry Fairchild DeBardelaben continued Pratt's vision in the Birmingham area, following Pratt's death. You might say that Pratt was Alabama's first economic developer as he recruited industries for the state including railroads and banking.

In 1899, the Daniel Pratt Gin Company, the largest cotton gin company in the world, merged with five other gin companies to form Continental Gin Company (CGC). Manufacturing plants were located in Prattville; Birmingham, AL; Dallas, Tx; Atlanta, Ga; and Bridgewater, MA; and later Memphis, TN. Continental Gin Company continued the strong tradition of producing the world's finest cotton gins, shipping them around the world. Throughout its history, the company purchased merged, or absorbed over 25 other cotton-related companies. This world-renowned company was in business until 2012.

The remaining plant in Prattville is composed of five historic brick buildings, each featuring the premier building styles of the time at its construction. Daniel Pratt built the 1848-1852 and the 1854 industrial buildings which featured mortise & tenon construction. A portion of the belt-driven power system with its belts, drums & pulleys is still found in the buildings. These buildings feature a totally open free-span third floor, an unusual finding in industrial buildings at that time. The 1898 building designed by Frank Lockwood, a noted architect, features the iconic Daniel Pratt Gin Co brick arch. A brick warehouse was added around 1899. The newly formed CGC added the four-story building in 1912 and later added the shipping & loading dock building in 1957. These are the historic brick buildings being repurposed. Over the years additional metal structures were added to the original brick historic structures.