Waddell House: A Step Back in Time

The Waddell House, situated in Landmark Park in Dothan, Alabama, provides visitors with an immersive experience of rural life in the Wiregrass region during the early 1900s. The house was originally built by Bud Bush using heart pine lumber from Lesker H. Waddell's sawmill. In 1906, Leska H. Waddell purchased the house and surrounding eighty acres. He furnished it meticulously over the next three years and brought his bride, Gypsy Hall, to live there in 1909.The house remained remarkably unaltered until Gypsy Waddell's death in 1976, offering an authentic snapshot of a bygone era. The balloon-frame construction, resting on brick pilings, and the high ceilings were designed to combat the summer heat. The open central hall served as a natural breezeway. Leska Waddell raised corn, cotton, peanuts, and other crops while also lending money and renting acreage to tenant farmers.In 1978, the Waddell children donated the house and outbuildings to the Dothan Landmarks Foundation. It was moved to Landmark Park, becoming the centerpiece of the park's living history museum. Today, visitors can explore the Waddell House and experience life as it was for a Wiregrass farming family over a century ago. Landmark Park has been designated as Alabama's official museum of agriculture.