22 C DOTHAN & HOUSTON COUNTY – Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
Hyman Blumberg immigrated to America in the 1870s from Prussia. For many years, he drove a stagecoach in the Wiregrass on a route between Geneva and Columbia. Blumberg witnessed the impressive growth of the Poplar Head community, and after the residents incorporated the crossroads into the town of Dothan, Blumberg resolved to open a business in the growing town. Blumberg’s first store
in Dothan was housed in a tent. From these inauspicious beginnings, he founded a clothing store that stood at the corner of Foster and Main streets for more than half a century. This circa 1920 photograph shows Blumberg’s Department Store. The building’s exterior is festooned with advertisements for shoes, hats and a special “Easter” sale. [Courtesy of Frank Gaines]
Blumberg’s store underwent a major renovation in the mid-1950s. At the grand reopening, customers marveled at the city’s first escalator. But by the late 1970s, the store had fallen on hard times as customers flocked to newly built shopping malls away from the city center. Blumberg’s closed in 1977. Much has changed on this street corner over the last 80 years. The building Blumberg’s occupied for decades is now gone. A law office is located on the bottom floor of the contemporary structure. The Carriage House Condominiums occupy the upper floors.