1900: The Birth of Downtown Dothan ( originally slated to cross West Main near South Alice,  the story goes that Buck Baker got inside information on the Central of Georgia change of route through Dothan with the rails crossing East Main near present-day College/South Appletree, bought up the right-of-way and made a fortune sellin' it back to the Central of Georgia) 

from page 86 and 87 of DEVIL MAKE A THIRD

"Naturally they'll hid Aven, Me and Ed figured everything and there ain't but one way for him to come."

He stopped and wiped his forehead, breathing deeply, and pushed his hair back.

"He'll cross Basin Street within two blocks of the store I wanted to buy. He'll build a depot, and a freight yard, and that section of town'll grow up crazy as a plum thicket."

Buck stopped and straightened up then with a half-smiling triumph in his eyes. Joe Bannon pulled his beard carefully out to the longest strand and looked at it curiously for a moment. He looked up and nodded.

'Buy it. I got the money."

"No, sir," Buck said quickly. "Let's go whole hog. I'll throw in my old store and the new one as collateral so I can buy it without help." He watched silently as his father nodded. "Then," he said, "you get out this afternoon and tomorrow morning and buy, quiet-like, all the ridge land you can northeast of town. They'll hunt ridges. Don't buy anything but poor land with a good stand of timber on it. We'll sell the timber first thing, then, by God, we'll have 'em hooked. They'll condemn at a price that'll give us a profit on the land deal, then we'll have the timber sale on top of it. Buy it right into Aven long as the price is right, they we'll sit tight and let 'em come to us."