User:MauraWen/sandbox Cloverdale Historic District

The Cloverdale Historic District is a 156-acre (63 ha) historic district in Montgomery, Alabama. It is roughly bounded by Norman Bridge and Cloverdale roads, Fairview and Felder avenues, and Boultier Street. It contains 463 contributing buildings and 4 structures that date from the mid-19th to the early 20th centuries. Cloverdale is one of Montgomery’s first suburbs and is the oldest landscape garden designed residential area in Alabama,^[2] The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 12, 1985.^[1]

The Cloverdale neighborhood was initially part of a large tract of land called belonging to William Graham, who purchased the property in 1817 from the government of the United States. The property, south of Montgomery was known as "Graham's Woods'" or "The Pines" because the land was originally covered with virgin pines. Graham Woods eventually became "Cloverdale", which was adopted by the neighborhood in 1892. The overall design of the neighborhood consisted of large lots, winding streets, several parks and a large lake site.

A year later, the U.S. economy suffered a serious depression and financial panic, resulted in many failed businesses nationwide, including the Cloverdale Land and Development Company. The company was bankrupt and construction of new homes and business came to a standstill. In 1908, the Cloverdale neighborhood had 10 homes. A small golf course and tennis courts were built and these would eventually become the Montgomery Country Club. In 1916 there were 125 neighborhood homes, many designed by local architects B. B. Smith, Weatherly Carter, Frank Lockwood Sr and Frank Lockwood Jr.

The Cloverdale property owners voted to incorporate the neighborhood into a self-governing village in 1910, which continued until 1927. Charles Tullis was elected Cloverdale's first mayor. Montgomery's first suburban commercial district began as a row of several businesses on the corner of Norman Bridge Road and the north side of Cloverale Road. By late 1920's, there a second business district developing in Cloverale on the corner of Fairview Avenue and Woodley Road.

It is one of Montgomery’s earliest suburbs and is the oldest landscape garden designed residential area in Alabama, predating similar areas in Birmingham. Its short existence as an incorporated village (1910 – 1927) gave it a special sense of neighborhood, which it has retained to some degree to the present day."^[3]

• [[Centennial Hill Historic District
• [[Cottage Hill Historic District
• [[Perry Street Historic District (Montgomery, Alabama
• [[Garden District (Montgomery, Alabama)

South Perry Street Historic District

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