The Dr. John Watkins House, located just north of Burnt Corn along the historic Old Federal Road, is among the earliest surviving residences associated with Alabama’s territorial period. This house was constructed in the early 1810s according to local folklore which was before Alabama achieved statehood, when this area was still part of the Mississippi Territory. The house is a two-and-a-half-story frame structure distinguished by its unusual lower front wing.
The home was the home of Dr. John Watkins (ca. 1785–1853), one of the earliest physicians to practice in southwest Alabama. Settling in the Burnt Corn area around 1819, Watkins served a widely scattered population at a time when medical care was scarce on the frontier. According to inscriptions on his gravestone, he was for a time the only physician between the Alabama and Chattahoochee Rivers.
In addition to his medical practice, Watkins played a notable role in the early development of the state. He served as a delegate to the Convention of 1819, which framed Alabama’s first constitution, and later represented his district in both the Alabama House of Representatives and the Alabama Senate.
As one of the earliest surviving dwellings from Alabama’s territorial period, the Watkins House stands as an important reminder of life during the region’s early pioneer settlement. The house was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 1934 and was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on October 4, 1993.
This house is located approximately one and one half miles north of Burnt Corn on the west side of Conecuh CR 5 (31.570982,-87.157096 – Google Maps).
This is a private residence – drive by only.
Sources: 1) “Dr. Watkins House” Historical Marker; 2) “Archaeological Survey of the Old Federal Road in Alabama” by the Center for Archaeological Studies, University of South Alabama.
B&W photograph courtesy of the U. S. Library of Congress (HABS), photographer: W. N. Manning, date: March 6, 1934.