DOTHAN & HOUSTON COUNTY – Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow C 45
LEFT:
E.C. Cumbie moved his bicycle shop to East Main Street in 1922. In 1955, Cumbie sold the dealership, and the new owner expanded the business, selling bicycles, motorcycles and lawnmowers. In 1978, the business moved to a new location on Ross Clark Circle during a time when many businesses were relocating away from the downtown area. [Courtesy of Houston-Love Memorial Library]
ABOVE: The
Cumbie building is an excellent example of the improvements brought to Dothan by the Downtown Group and the mural project. Two murals adorn the building. On the left, is a mural dedicated to Dothan’s own Johnny Mack Brown. Brown graduated from Dothan High School in 1922. His considerable athletic ability earned him the nickname “The Dothan Antelope.” Brown excelled at the University of Alabama, where he was named an All-American halfback. Brown’s good looks and athleticism caught the attention of Hollywood, and the young man from Dothan went on to star in more than 160 films with Hollywood greats like Mae West, John Wayne, Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford. Each year Dothan pays tribute to one of its most well known sons with the YellaWood Johnny Mack Brown Western Festival. The second mural on the Cumbie building portrays Chief Eufaula, leader of the Creek Indians, who presided over the tribes during their relocation to a reservation in Oklahoma. In 1836, Eufaula addressed the Alabama Legislature. Quotes from Eufaula’s speech are included in the mural, which was painted by Bruce Rickett in 1993.