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Prattville's history dates back to December 1835, when Daniel Pratt purchased 1822 acres at the fall line on Autauga Creek from Joseph May for $20,000. Pratt's idea was to develop the area into an industrial facility to manufacture Eli Whitney's invention for separating cotton seed from the lint.
It was Pratt's objective to give employment to as many operatives as his means would justify. It was not just his intent to provide jobs, but to furnish families with educational and religious advantages as well. He built small, comfortable homes for his workers and provided them with gardens so that they could grow their own food. In addition, he provided the financing for building churches and schools for the new town.
The establishment of Prattville as a world-class industrial town was accomplished in less than a dozen years. In addition to the gin factory, Pratt built a sawmill, a gristmill, a cotton factory and an operation that produced sashes, doors and blinds. His enterprises prospered and so did the town.
Daniel Pratt was opposed to secession because he believed the South did not possess the resources to sustain itself without the North. However, once Alabama had withdrawn from the Union, Pratt went with his adopted state and became a generous supporter of the Prattville Dragoons, the Civil War volunteer unit from Prattville. He also provided relief to families of Confederate soldiers during and after the war.
In 1868, Prattville became the county seat of Autauga County. This was a prize that Pratt had sought for a number of years and because it gave added importance to the town Pratt concluded that a city government was in order. Daniel Pratt was unanimously elected the town’s first mayor, and he served in that office until his death in 1873.
After Pratt's death his nephew, Merrill Pratt, assumed control of the town and the gin factory. Under his leadership Prattville continued to prosper. Merrill Pratt passed away in 1889, and the town's destiny fell upon Daniel Pratt II. Under his reign the gin factory was sold to Continential Gin Company. By this time a division of the wealth had occurred and Prattville was no longer a town controlled by one man.
After the turn of the century elected officials changed every four or eight years. One of the earliest of the twentieth century mayors was Malcolm A. Graham.
Prattville’s population remained fairly constant from just after the Civil War until 1940. Then from 1940 to 1980, the town grew from 2,664 to 18,647. At some point during period after World War II Prattville became known as a bedroom community to Montgomery. The town gradually grew and by 1980 several new sub-divisions had been added to the corporate limits.
The decade of the 80s saw a period where future growth became more and more apparent. Land prices began to esculate, especially in the eastern section of the town. Housing in that area mushrooned and by the early 1990s significantly additional commercial growth was apparent. Mayor C. Gray Price's twelve year administration prepared the town for what was to come. However, it was the six plus years under Mayor David Whetstone that saw both the populaton and commercial growth literally expode.
Prattville's first mayor of the twenty-first century, Jim Byard, Jr., was also the town's youngest chief executive. The first years under Byard saw continued growth and in addition saw a greater concern by elected officials to preserve the town's rich heritage.
At the start of the new millinium officials estimated the city’s population approached 30,000.
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