Julius Rosenbush, a German Jewish immigrant, settled in Demopolis in the late 1800s and established the Rosenbush Furniture Company in 1895. After his death in 1911, his wife Essie ran the business, eventually passing it on to her son Bert Rosenbush Sr. From 1950 until closing it in 2002, the business was managed by Bert Rosenbush Jr. In 2003, he and his wife Mary Louise donated the building to the city for future use as a repository of Demopolis history. Today, this building serves as home for the Marengo County History and Archives Museum Foundation, Inc.

The Rosenbush building is a contributing property to the Demopolis Historic Business District that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). This building is located on the west side of North Walnut Avenue next to the railroad tracks at downtown Demopolis (GPS coordinates 32.516595, -87.837686).

Sources: 1) “Downtown Demopolis” historical marker (located in front of the Rosenbush building); 2) NRHP “Demopolis Historic Business District” Registration Form.

Photographs courtesy of RuralSWAlabama.